The Pony Everypony is Reading About
We woke up with the dawn. I knew the mayor well enough that I could guess the time she’d come down to check on our progress. She’s always punctual, arriving at precisely eight o’clock before spending a few minutes checking for any overnight packages, and getting a large cup of coffee. After that, the first thing she’d do is attend to anything left over from yesterday in chronological order.
As a pair of troublemakers still imprisoned with the Ponyville Drunk Tank, we’d be fairly high on that list.
To secure our freedom, Colgate and I had to become friends. We’d managed that. Mainly because I was trying extra hard to get on the good side of a pony that may eventually become capable of time travel, but we needed to convince the mayor that her plan had worked like a charm.
Plans rarely go exactly right, and if they do, then the planner may wonder if it was going too well. That was exactly the reaction I was looking for.
Ear against the wall and eyes on my watch, I waited for the mayor to open the Town Hall’s front door. At one minute, ten seconds past the hour, I heard the doors creak open. “She’s here.” Stepping down from off my bunk, I looked over to Colgate. “I didn’t see anything in her inbox, so she’ll have her morning coffee right away. Give it seven minutes, ten at most before she’d down here.”
Colgate nodded, using her magic to take hold off the mattresses, pillows, and bed sheets from both our bunks and placing them head to head in the centre of the room. “You really think this will work?” Colgate said as she laid herself down on her side.
“There’s a few ways to interpret this, and they all work in our favour.” I rolled myself up in my bed sheet and onto my mattress. Now we were head to head up against each other in the sort of formation that suggested we’d been up all night talking. “Remember, when she gets here, you have to ‘wake’ me up.”
“Right,” Colgate replied. Then we rolled over and pretended to be asleep.
Before long, the outer door’s lock clattered as the mayor came into the antechamber. Colgate’s sheets rustled and she reached over to tap me, hoarsely whispering, “Wake up, the mayor’s here.” I rolled over toward the mayor while still trying to sleep and scored bonus points by drooling on the pillow. Colgate responded by telling me to wake up again, tapping my neck a little harder.
Stirring, I rolled over to look up. Cutting off a yawn, I said, “Good morning, Colgate. Sleep well?”
“I did,” Colgate replied and then pointed toward the door. “The mayor’s here.”
Glancing over at the door I saw the mayor, neat and ready for the day. “Turner,” she called using a deliberately neutral tone. “Not up too late last night, I hope?”
“Mostly just talking,” I said as I stood up. “We can’t become friends just by sleeping together.” Colgate squeaked, and they mayor’s left eyebrow went up. Whoops. “Just talking together on the floor,” I hurriedly added, “From separate beds.”
The mayor’s gaze drifted to Colgate, and from the corner of my eye I could see Colgate trying to grin innocently with her perfect teeth. The mayor opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted when Colgate blurted out, “I’m still a virgin!”
The plan had been to convince the mayor that we’d become allies by overplaying the friendship card. Enough to convince her we weren’t arguing, and weren’t going to be a problem any longer. That would have worked better than telling her we were friends and then making her suspicious about the sudden overnight change. Better to give somepony a reason to be suspicious, then for them to think up one on their own.
But now we were trapped in an awkward silence. The mayor closed her eyes and hung her head, shaking it gently. On the other side of the outer doorway, two heads appeared as they looked around the corner with disguised interest.
“I was going to say,” the mayor began. “That I’d brought a couple of your friends so they could tell me if you had sorted your problem out, but obviously you’re both comfortable telling your secrets to each other.” The mayor turned to look back over her shoulder. “You can come through now.”
The pair waiting outside came in: first was Caramel with a smirk painted across his face, followed by Berry Punch, who seemed a little more mixed. Colgate brightened considerably, running over to the bars while saying, “Berry, it’s so good to see you.”
“Girl, remind me not to get you drunk,” Berry said as she reached through the bars to share a hug with Colgate. “You got some explaining to do. Especially what’s between you and ‘im,” she said with a nod over at me.
“Him has a name,” I called back. Strolling toward the bars where Caramel stood, I took note of his grin. “What’s got you looking all smug?”
“Just thinking how you did all this for me,” Caramel said. “You certainly know how to deal with a problem.” He shook his head with a grin. “I mean you helped break us up, but to chase her down like that. You totally got me a ticket to the Friend Zone.”
It took me a moment to process what he was saying. “Oh, Colgate, well yeah.”
Caramel nodded. “You should hear Carrot talk about it; she won’t shut up about how she thinks Colgate’s a bad influence on you.”
I snorted. “Bad influence on me?” I laughed. “Believe me, Caramel; I’m a really bad influence on her.”
“Well it’s all good,” Caramel said as he brought a hoof to his chest. “I’m fully satisfied. Mayor,” he said as he turned to look at the waiting bureaucrat. “I think they’re good to let out.”
The mayor nodded. “And you, Miss Punch?”
Berry looked back from where she and Colgate had begun to gossip. “Colgate’s happier than I’ve seen her in a while. The problem is totally solved.”
When the mayor looked back at me again, I said, “There’ll be some more therapy to do, but we’re good on this end.”
“I suppose that’s the best I could have hoped for,” the mayor said cautiously as she reached for the key. When the door unlocked, the pair of us on the inside made for the door, but the mayor stopped us with a raised hoof. “There’s one more matter, damages.”
My hoof was applied to my face. “Oh for the love of Luna. This is what we have insurance for, Mayor.”
The mayor shook her head. “We won’t have it for much longer if we keep claiming on it. The premiums are getting ridiculous, and the damage cost here is low enough that it’s better to sort this out on our own.”
A grim look crossed Colgate’s face as she asked, “How much?”
“Just over a thousand bits has been claimed all up,” the mayor admitted and Colgate winced. “Of course claims are always higher than the actual cost, but I don’t think anypony could talk the entire marketplace into a lower price.”
“Never offer the price you’d actually settle for,” I quoted and all the earth ponies in the room nodded in agreement.
Colgate was the only one who didn’t understand. Looking around at us she asked, “Am I missing something?”
I smiled. “That’s part seven of the Earth Pony Way: It’s why farmers will start at a higher price and make you bargain with them. Goes back to the old tribes, unicorns always tended to pay full price so everypony started doing it,” I explained. Colgate accepted it, but didn’t look like she was satisfied.
“Part five in my book,” Berry added.
I shrugged. “It always gets a little different after part three.” The various sayings passed down in earth pony families tended to vary based on a family’s own experiences and location. What was part seven for me might be four to a merchant, and conversely my four might be eleven for them.
Colgate’s eyebrows furrowed and she asked, “What’s part one?”
“When in doubt, buck it,” Everypony else replied at once.
Colgate withered a little. “Creepy.” Shutting her eyes, Colgate breathed in. “Alright, I’ll pay for the damages.”
The mayor was about to accept the offer when I interrupted her saying, “I’ll pay half.” Everypony paused to look at me. “Just sharing the bill, it’s not like I’m paying for all of it.”
The mayor stepped aside. “Alright, you’re free to go.”
Colgate and I both moved forward. Then realizing we’d bump into each other going through the door, I let her go first. “Thank you,” she said as she went out to where Berry was waiting for her.
“Come on, Colgate,” Berry said. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.” Taking Berry’s suggestion, Colgate went out the outer door. Berry paused for a second to look back at me, before following her friend out.
Caramel shook his head. “You know, Berry didn’t even speak to me while we were out there. I get the feeling she doesn’t like me.”
I nodded thoughtfully. “Probably blames you for that thing Colgate had for you, and the break up.”
A solemn look passed over Caramel’s face before he cheered up saying, “Hey at least she’ll soon be putting that energy into disliking you.”
Rolling my eyes, I agreed. “Still, that won’t last much longer anyway. The war’s over.”
“Sure it will,” Caramel replied with a smug smile. I frowned back, while trying to figure out what he meant.
Before I could ask, the mayor spoke up. “Time Turner…”
I turned to face her, asking, “Yes, Mayor?”
“I thought I should mention that the Town Clock was running five minutes behind schedule this morning.”
Bringing a hoof up to rub my forehead and muttered, “I swear I’m going to melt those damn pendulums down. Don’t worry, Mayor, I’ll deal with it now.”
“Cool,” Caramel said, “I’ll just head back out to Carrot’s patch and find out what she wants done today.”
“Tell her I said ‘Hi’.”
“I will,” Caramel said as he went out the door.
“Mayor,” I asked, “Before I get going, how much budget is there in the town’s coffers for fixing the fault in the clock?”
She shook her head. “We’re practically running over budget as is, Turner. If you can, do it as cheap as possible or for free if you can manage it.”
“Noted,” I said. “Problem is that we may have to rebuild parts of the mechanism to do it properly.”
The mayor almost looked horrified. “That’ll be far too much, just find a way to patch it. If somepony wants to replace it, they’ll just have to wait until we have the budget for it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Well I don’t see anything.” The mechanism of the clock tower remained as difficult as ever. I’d even replicated the thing on a smaller scale and it’d worked perfectly as a wall clock. If I could stop the pendulums knocking their balance off as they passed each other, then it’d be fine.
Of course the modifications needed to do that were beyond what the town could afford. Unbalance or modify parts, and you’ll have to account for it elsewhere – effectively forcing you to redo the entire thing.
Clocks are of course the definition of what accurate is supposed to be.
I did my usual bit of regular maintenance: bucking the pendulums back up to full tilt, and correcting the time on the clock face. Ponies might think that would involve getting a pegasus to give the handles a push, but actually a much safer internal gear arrangement is used to bring it back to the right time.
“Turner, are you in here?” a voice echoed up the tower.
“Be down in a minute,” I called back down. I reengaged the clutch on the outside clock face – the one facing the forest – and started on my way down the ramp that spiralled around edge of the internal void.
My guest hadn’t wanted to wait, and met me halfway up the tower. “Goldie?” Carrot Top didn’t look too pleased to see me, and a roll of paper poked out the flap of her saddlebag.
“Turner, would you like to explain this?” Carrot Top reached back and pulled the roll of paper out of her bag and unfurled it for me to see.
The Foal Free Press
Dentist’s Secret Love Affair with Chocolate
Yesterday our photographer took this image of Colgate the Dentist eating what Pinkie Pie calls Quad-Choc Fudge. Colgate loves telling Ponyville’s fillies and colts to not to eat chocolate, often blaming tooth damage on the treat. This didn’t stop her eating the chocolate the brown colt got her though.
Your reporter: Gabby Gums.
The accompanying image was from my trip with Colgate out of the Drunk Tank last night. Colgate had a mouthful of fudge, while I was staring wistfully at the chocolate dessert. Unfortunately the low quality newspaper photo didn’t show me in the context of wishing for some of the fudge, instead it looked like I was staring at Colgate herself in an almost romantic fashion. Weirdly enough, the text of the article was more concerned about Colgate’s hypocrisy than what my intentions were.
“Welcome to the list, Gabby,” I murmured under my breath.
“Well?” Carrot asked. She was calm, but with her head slightly tilted to the left as she watched me carefully. The sort of look from a mare that suggests the next few words out of my mouth would decide whether or not I’d be taking a shortcut down to the base of the tower.
Quickly considering my approach, I ventured, “I wasn’t taking advantage of her.” Quietly though, I was preparing a time turn.
Carrot’s head tilted a little more. “Go on.”
“Well, uh…” Looking back, I saw Carrot blink stoically. “I’m trying to help Colgate with her problems. Part of it is learning to let go, and I was starting with her dental obsession by giving her chocolate.” After another moment I added, “I’m just trying to fix her, like I fixed you.”
“Yes, you did,” Carrot said flatly. “And what are you doing in this picture?”
“Wishing that I ordered a second plate of fudge for myself. Even if it did cost me thirty or so bits,” I grumbled to myself.
“Well now the entire town thinks you’re in love with Colgate.”
I blinked. “Isn’t this the school newspaper? Nopony reads this.”
“Oh no,” Carrot said seriously. “Everypony reads Gabby Gums, hoping to read their friend’s secrets, or just to find out if they’ve being outed next. It’s the latest thing.”
I hummed in thought. “It explains why Caramel thought I’d permanently solved his Colgate worries.”
“Yes he told me you’d be up here.” Carrot looked out into the void beside us where the dual pendulums jousted past each other. She didn’t say anything for a few moments as she watched the mechanism move. “Those look... interesting.”
I snorted. “It’s annoying is what it is. See how they rattle as they pass?”
“I do.” Carrot looked over at me, a question on her face.
“It’s caused by the air they push aside. It costs the clock a fraction of a second each time, and it builds up to minutes over a few days.” I sighed. “I need to stop them doing that, but nopony has the tools around here to reforge the pendulums.”
Carrot hummed in thought a moment. “Can’t you put some glass up between them or something?”
“Well…” That wasn’t actually a bad idea. “It’s a bit expensive for the moment. So we’d need something cheaper to start with.”
“Plywood then,” Carrot offered. “It’s cheap, strong, and thin enough that it won’t get in the way of the pendulums.”
“Doable, it won’t look nice, but nopony really comes up in here.”
“That’s a shame,” Carrot said. “Because they look so majestic swinging together.” The hypnotising effect cost Carrot her balance and she stepped sideways toward me for support. We stood there for a time, Carrot leaning against me while I tried to guess how much plywood we’d need, and where to mount it. Later we might be able to use the plywood to mould a glass window as well. It was indeed a shame we couldn’t use glass to put giant windows into the tower so the pendulums could be seen from a distance. Whoever built this went to a lot of trouble to create a good looking set of weights, only to seal them away.
“You know, Turner,” Carrot said to me. “You should make me a clock like this one.”
“The tower would probably take up too much space,” I quipped.
Carrot leant her head back to look into my eye. “At least I could see it from anywhere on my farm.”
“And from the market too, I’d wager,” I replied.
Carrot smiled. “It’d let me think of you while serving customers.”
My eyebrows went up. “Careful, Goldie, I might start thinking that you’re trying to hit on me.”
She responded by jabbing me lightly in the ribs. “Trying?”
“Alright,” I said while holding up a hoof. “I’ll make you a watch. You’ll be able to get the time off that, and you won’t lose a field to a clock tower.”
“A watch doesn’t have a pair of pendulums dancing together,” she objected.
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve got a smaller version of this on my bench at home. I’ll fix it up a bit, make it look nice, and—” Carrot cut me off by wrapping a foreleg around my neck and dragging me down into a kiss. It came as a bit of a surprise, I’d been thinking of Carrot as more of a friend for a while.
After a few more swings of the pendulums, Carrot finally let me go. I gave her a questioning look, and she smiled back while brushing her mane back. “I’ve wanted to do that for a while, and well I…” Her eyes wandered. “I’ve spent so much time just waiting and sometimes, you know, you worry something might slip away, or something…”
Reading between the lines, I asked, “You’re worried I might slip away?”
Carrot looked around, her mouth doing a fish impression. Eventually a sentence formed, “That you might leave me behind, alone. Uh,” she uttered as she ran a hoof through her thick curly mane. “It’s just that you stepped into my life, and made everything better.”
“I’m not going to just step out of it,” I reassured her. Taking her by the shoulders I continued, “I might fade into the background occasionally, or I might go traveling for a while, but I’ll come back because you’re one of my best friends, Golden Harvest.” Using her oft unused name caused Carrot to draw in a breath. “You don’t need to clamp down on me because you’re afraid.”
“I’m not just afraid, I rather like you, like, really like…” She blinked. “Buck it.” With the first part invoked, she reached around my neck for balance and pulled herself into another kiss. This one was a much better experience, and more mutual. I shifted my stance around to help lift her up and soon I was looking up at her, with her mane hanging down around us.
Soon the second kiss ended as it wound down into a hug. “Thank you,” she said, “for everything.”
“Isn’t kindness its own reward?” I said as I helped her down.
“Well,” she said with a grin. “Always return the favour.”
Gotta love number four. “I always try to, fixing somepony else’s problems can help fix yours; plus you always feel good after. It’s basically my life philosophy.”
“Yeah,” Carrot said as she rocked back and forth on her hooves. “I actually feel like I just unhitched myself from a wagon.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I feel like baking something. Something sweet.”
“Goldie?”
“Something golden,” Carrot nodded to herself. “Turner, could you go to the market and find some golden syrup? Or maple?”
“What for?”
“I’m going to make my grandmother’s Golden Carrot Cake recipe. She named it after me,” Carrot said with a wistful smile. “Noi and I used to make it all the time, and I’m in a really good mood.”
“I suppose…” Looking around, there wasn’t much else to do. I’d have to get somepony up here to do some woodwork, probably Mac if he can spare a few hours from his farm.
“Great, bring it over this afternoon.” Carrot started down the ramp and called back over her shoulder, “I’m going to get some fresh carrots ready. See you soon!” Then she went out the archway with a definite skip in her step.
I guess this is happening then. It had been a while since I’d seriously considered whether or not there’d be something more to my friendship with Carrot Top. The photo in the paper, as misleading as it was, must have pushed her into it. I’ll have to keep an open mind on this, and figure out if she’s got any doubts. If not, then… well she is one of my best friends, that’s got to be a good foundation for a relationship.
Having given Carrot enough time to put some distance between us, I started down the clock tower and onward to Ponyville. The town itself crossed into my thoughts: originally Ponyville had simply been a refuge, a place to lay low before starting to adventure around Equestria again. Yet here we are years later and I find I’m comfortable here.
Pretty soon I was thinking about what Carrot Top and the town itself could mean for me long term. Carrot’s farm house, the spare bedrooms, the fields of vegetables, and how terrible I was at farming. Farming was, more or less, in my blood, though it was more wheat and less carrot. Those thoughts started carrying to the inevitable result and the way that would tie me down. How long would it be before the adventures I used to go on would become something I just did, ‘In my youth’ or, ‘Back in my day’?
A part of my mind rebelled at the thought, and turned me down another path: namely that I’d promised to take Colgate on an adventure or two so she could learn from those experiences like I did. From those comforting thoughts I came to a conclusion, I don’t think I’m done just yet.
Walking into Ponyville’s market a day or so after helping to demolish it was an interesting experience. Eyes followed me, wondering if I’d start chasing another random mare – presumably before giving her chocolate fudge. A few of the ponies who’d lost product, or been introduced to it, because of the chase, also gave me the evil eye.
I finally found a merchant selling golden syrup in tins, along with other tin can preserved goods. She looked at me strangely as I asked for a tin. “You do sell golden syrup, right?” I asked.
She pointed at me with a hoof. “Aren’t you the colt who busted through here a few days back?”
“Yeah, that was me. I was in ‘hot pursuit’,” I admitted with the necessary air quotes. “I had to chase her down. It was important.”
“Uh huh, important,” the merchant muttered. She reached under her counter and produced a copy of the school newspaper, which she dumped on the counter. A quick flick of her hoof opened the page to Colgate and me. “Looks like you scored a date,” she added.
“Not a date, but it was important,” I reiterated.
“Well your marefriend threw a whole bunch of my cans across the way.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure they’re fine. What’s a dent to a tin anyway?” Looking around I pointed out one can with a dent in the side. “Look at that, you’re still selling it.”
“Damaged goods lose value,” she countered.
Narrowing my eyes, I argued back saying, “At least you can get value from it. Now,” I eased my tone down, “I’d like a tin of golden syrup.”
“Alright,” she said testily and reached behind the counter again. A tin can with a long dent was put on the counter. “Eight bits.”
The deep dent was the kind you’d expect from something that had been hit with a bat. “What in Equestria did that?”
“Your marefriend.” She spun the tin around with her hoof. “She threw this can across the street and knocked Azalea out,” she said with a nod at something behind me.
Considering the tin, I looked back over my shoulder at the stall across the street. Azalea, a pegasus with an unusual talent in flowers, sat among her produce while waiting for a customer. Something tweaked at the back of my mind and I checked the dent in the tin again. “This can’t have knocked her out. The dent’s the wrong shape.” I pointed out the long line at the deep part of the dent. “The only part of a pony that could do this shape would be a unicorn’s horn, and Azalea’s a pegasus. You can’t guilt me with that fib, five bits.”
“Five bits?” the merchant scoffed. “I’d be making a loss.”
“It’s damaged,” I countered. “You just said you can’t sell a damaged tin at full price.”
“Seven bits then,” she offered.
I silently folded my forelegs on her counter, unmoved.
“Alright,” she said with upheld hooves. “Six bits, and I’m throwing me own shoe here.”
“Fine,” I grumbled and paid the mare. The dented can of syrup ended up in my saddlebag.
I was about to set off again when I chanced a glance back at Azalea’s stand. She didn’t have any customers, and was sitting expectantly for one. Thinking back, I may have galloped through her stall as I used it for cover against Colgate’s barrage. I made to set off again a few times before giving in, damn my good nature.
Azalea jolted out of her daze as I walked up to her counter. “Hello, Azalea,” I said amicably. “Can I get bouquet of flowers?”
“Sure, what would you like?” She asked as she stood up.
“Something that looks nice, I suppose.” I had no idea what to get, better to leave the selection of flowers to somepony who had a mark for it.
The flower inclined mare thought for a moment, looked back at me, and then grinned. “Are they for somepony special?”
My shoulders slumped down with a sigh. “You’ve read the Gabby Gums column, haven’t you?” She nodded. “Then whatever works.”
“Hey, bud. You getting flowers for somepony?” asked a familiar voice.
“Oh hey, Thunderlane, It’s—whoa!” I caught sight of Lane’s wings. They looked like weird sausages with thirty or so black toothpicks poking out of them. There weren’t many normal feathers still left in his wings.
“Yeah,” Lane shrugged his mutilated wings out to show me the damage. “They’re all blood-feathers too. Believe me, bud, it’s hard sleeping with these, ‘cause they sting whenever ya touch ‘em too hard. Can’t break ‘em either, or they’ll bleed and take ages to come back a—” Lane was caught out by a cough. “Worst’s past, and I’m not gonna spread the flu, but I still feel like my cloud’s been bucked.”
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I asked.
“Gotta buy more food,” Lane said, revealing his own set of saddlebags under his wings. “Growing a full set of feathers really takes it out of you. I’m eating constantly to keep up. I need to do the shopping because Banana’s stuck in bed with the flu.”
I winced. “She okay?”
“She’ll be fine.” Lane stopped to cough up something, before swallowing it again. “She still cooks, and I’ll tell ya that she can make some fiery stuff, the only stuff I can taste right now.” He brought a hoof to his chin. “Though, we have managed to clean out her spice rack.”
“How long until you can fly again?” I asked.
“It’ll be days before I can preen these,” Lane said with a nod at his fresh batch of feathers. “Once they grow in, there’ll be more. I won’t be flying till all my primaries are back.” He gave his wings a flap. “Call it a week, maybe.”
“Mr Turner?” I turned to face the speaker, Azalea held a bouquet of pink and white flowers in her hooves. “Would these be satisfactory?”
“They’ll do,” I said with a nod.
“Five bits,” she offered. I paid the price without argument, and carefully put the flowers into my bags so they’d still get some light by hanging out of the flap.
“Hey, Azalea,” Lane spoke up. “Can I get a bunch as well?”
“Sure,” she said and turned back to her stock.
“Have to get something for Banana,” Lane explained. “She’s been really awesome about letting me stay until I can fly up home again.”
“And that you infected her in the first place,” I added. Feather Flu is notorious among pegasi, but that doesn’t mean it won’t hit other ponies just as hard – sans feather loss, naturally.
Lane’s eyes widened. “Good point. Azalea, can you make it a big bunch?”
“That’ll be a few bits more,” she said back as she started adding more flowers.
Lane didn’t hesitate to say, “I’ll pay it.”
“Speaking of paying for things,” I began. “Lane, while I was looking after your brother, he convinced me to sign you up for the Wonderbolts Academy.”
Lane’s ears shot bolt upright, and his wings twitched. “You got me into the Academy?”
I shrugged. “Well, Spitfire was giving forms out, and it’s just their initial bit-grab, so you’re on the list at least.”
Lane leaned toward me, nose down and looking right into my eyes. “But I’m in?”
Leaning away from Lane, I said, “They haven’t sent me the bill yet, but the money’s been offered. As long as they get pay-dirt, they’ll take you.”
“Yes!” Thunderlane leapt into the air, wings reaching to take him skyward in celebration. Without proper feathers however, all he managed was a short jump before stumbling down the ground on an unexpected landing.
I helped Lane back to his hooves. “Careful, Lane, you’re not ready to impress Spitfire just yet, save it for the academy.”
“Yeah,” Lane spluttered with a cough. “Gotta get to ten wing-power first.”
“Mr Thunderlane,” Azalea interrupted while holding a bouquet of her namesake. “Your flowers are ready.”
“Cool, how much?”
“Seven bits,” she replied. Lane produced the money and added the flowers to his own bag. Azalea eyed Lane’s wings and winced as she gave her own set a flap. “Also, good luck with the wings, I know how that feels.” A moment later she added, “Don’t eat the flowers either, they don’t really agree with a pony’s digestive system.”
“Wouldn’t do that,” Lane replied. Though I suspected he was lying. “Speaking of food… Turner, why don’t we go get something? I’m starving.”
My eyes wandered toward the clock tower’s face – it was still accurate enough for now. “Twelve forty-eight, sounds like lunch to me.”
“Somepony around here has to have something,” Lane said while checking the nearby vendors.
“How about over there?” I nodded up the street to where a sitting area was laid out with a couple of stalls nearby.
“Sweet,” Lane said as he set off at a rapid trot. Following Lane, I found that of the two stalls, one was selling donuts and coffee, while the other was Bon Bon’s sweet stand with Lyra behind the counter. Lyra was serving Cloud Kicker, who was out and about with Ditzy and Dinky. It seemed Future Turner’s prediction was still holding.
Lane veered toward Lyra’s stand and we passed the two love birds as they walked away. Cloud looked chastened about something, Dinky was stuffing her face with chocolate, and I shared a nod with Ditzy as we passed.
“Spoiling Dinky are we, Lyra?” I said as we walked up.
Lyra grimaced. “A bit.”
“Careful,” I warned, “give that filly a hoof and she’ll take a furlong.”
“Or a box,” Lyra muttered before perking up. “Well, what can I get you two boys?” But before either of us could say anything Lyra gasped. “Are those flowers?” Lane and I shared glances at each other’s bags, we both had flower bouquets sticking out of the flaps. “Who are they for?” Lyra pressed.
I blinked. “Uh, Carrot Top, I guess.”
“Banana Fluff,” Lane said unevenly.
“I’ve got just what you need,” Lyra said as she stuck her head down behind the counter, lighting her horn. A pair of heart shaped boxes landed on the counter in front of us. Lyra opened them to give us a look. “Bon Bon’s variety boxes, they’re awesome.” She closed them again and wrapped them in ribbon. “Thirty bits each.”
Caught completely off guard, I reacted with earth pony instincts to say, “Fifteen.”
“Twenty, and done,” Lyra steamrolled over us with a massive grin on her face.
Thunderlane and I shuffled around and paid for the boxes before adding them to our bags alongside the other things we’d bought for our respective mares. “See you next time,” Lyra said with a parting wave as we walked away.
“Bud,” Lane asked, “did that just happen?”
“Yes, Lane, I think it did.”
We moved slowly over to the sitting area and took seats facing each other on opposite benches. I found myself wondering how I’d managed to turn myself into coltfriend material so quickly and seemingly against my will. Perhaps subconsciously, I really want to do that sort of thing.
After a few moments of thinking, my bench shook as somepony sat down next to me. “So who are the flowers for?”
“Carrot Top,” I offered reflexively as I turned to look.
Colgate smiled back at me. “Good, I was beginning to get worried.” Yet another copy of the Foal Free Press floated in to view.
“I’m really starting to dislike that newspaper,” I grumbled.
Colgate giggled. “You’re not the only one, Berry’s been grousing about it all morning.” She nodded across at Thunderlane’s bench where Berry sat, grumpily looking in our direction. “Doesn’t stop her reading it, we were sitting just over there.” Colgate nodded to an empty pair of benches.
“You seem awfully chipper about it,” I said.
“Well, I was a little outraged at first,” she explained. “But I’m trying to see the fun in it. It proves what I’m telling all the kids is starting to get through to them, if they’re remembering it like this.”
“So you’re enjoying your release then?”
Colgate’s smile turned into a grin with a touch of laughter. “Honestly, I haven’t felt this good in ages. It’s like this dark cloud sitting at the back of my mind has disappeared. I don’t need to worry about my magic anymore, because you’re backing me up.” She elbowed me in the side. “No more nagging worry. And even better, because we were arrested, the dentistry shifted all my appointments because they didn’t know when I’d be back. Since my schedule was clear, I’ve decided to take a vacation.”
I smiled as well at the news. “Good to hear it’s starting to work out for you. A vacation’s a good idea, Colgate, you’ve been stressed for a while and you deserve it.”
She shrugged “I don’t really know what to do; I’ve never taken a vacation before.” Her smile became sheepish. “I was also wondering, you said I should join you on an adventure sometime. Since I’m on vacation, could we schedule it for sooner, rather than later?”
I snorted my way into laughter. “Colgate, adventure isn’t something you can schedule. You either go find it, or it finds you, and you can never be sure when.”
“Could we go find it then?” Colgate asked, the eagerness behind the question was rather refreshing.
“Soon, I suppose. In fact, I’ve got the sneaking suspicion it might find us.” It had been a few weeks since Future Turner had hinted about an adventure that would be coming up soon, and Siren did mention that strange things had been happening around Equestria. Colgate gave me a questioning look. “I’m hearing rumours,” I explained. “But there’s something else you could help me with in the meantime.”
“Oh?”
“Well, I’m making a clock for Carrot Top,” I said, “but I also want to make her a watch. Problem is, that the parts are too small for me to deal with, so I usually have to find a unicorn to help me. How’s your fine control when using your magic?”
“Excellent,” she didn’t hesitate to say. “It has to be when I’m using a drill.” That was comforting to say the least.
“Great, could I get your help with that tomorrow?”
“Sure,” she replied.
I nodded in thanks. “While we’re at it, we might as well do a second one for you too.”
“Really?” Colgate blinked. “Watches are really expensive. You could sell one for over a hundred bits in Canterlot.”
“True, but for me it’s just a bit of brass and the time and effort in assembling it.” I shrugged. “It’s also a way to pay you back for helping me with the other watch.”
“Well, it’s nice of you to offer it,” Colgate said. She looked over at the other bench, where Berry Punch was waiting and Lane was devouring a couple of doughnuts. “I think Berry’s getting impatient.” Colgate stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Turner.”
The two mares left as I made my way over to the coffee stall to buy a doughnut before Lane could buy all the good ones. Sure enough, Lane was right behind me. “So, how was Colgate?” he asked with smugness laced through his voice.
“She’s doing well,” I replied before looking to the colt behind the coffee stand counter. “Jam doughnut with a regular coffee.” The colt nodded, and started filling the order. I looked around for a price list and found it alongside the notice stating: ‘Do Not Sell to This Pony’, with a grinning picture of Pinkie Pie beneath it.
‘The Incident’ and its sequels had pushed up Ponyville’s insurance premiums and forced the mayor to ban Pinkie from accessing anything with a reasonable level of caffeine in it. I certainly wasn’t keen on being on the clean-up crew for another one, because there’s only so much helium impregnated custard you can deal with.
You’d think Pinkie wouldn’t drink something as bitter as coffee, but then taste is always a secondary concern when most ponies start drinking it for the caffeine boost. Appreciation for the coffee flavour itself comes with experience.
“So,” Lane said conspiratorially, “you’re not trying to herd two mares at once are you?”
I gave Lane a withering look back. “Why is it that everypony assumes I’m in some form of relationship? That I must be secretly dating Colgate, Ditzy, or even Rose?” Considering that Roseluck is normally the source of those rumours, I’d have to ask her.
“Dunno,” Lane said with a shrug. “But ‘there’s no smoke without fire’.”
“Uh-huh, ‘correlation does not imply causation,” I countered with my superior quote-fu. “So what I have friends? That does not mean I have romantic feelings, nor does it mean I’m going to develop them.”
“Dude, chill,” Lane said as he gave me a pat on the back. “You did get flowers and chocolates.”
“Yeah, alright.” While using a fetlock to rub my forehead, I added, “Carrot Top’s interested in giving that extra step a try. We decided to think first before taking it, but Carrot seems to have decided.”
“I guess I owe Mac a keg of cider then,” Thunderlane said off hoof. I blinked and shot him a questioning look and he elaborated, “Mac guessed Carrot Top might develop a thing for you, and I bet against him.” He rolled his eyes. “Could’a sworn you were more Colgate’s type, but Gabby Gums has it wrong.”
I frowned as I retrieved my freshly made cup of coffee from the vendor. “I swear, when I find that Gabby Gums…”
After parting ways with Thunderlane, I made my way out to Carrot’s farm with my purchases. Passing by Sweet Apple Acres, I noticed Mac working in a field by the road. We nodded at each other, and Mac grinned when he saw the flowers in my bag.
Carrot Top wasn’t out in the fields when I arrived, neither was Caramel, and when I knocked on her front door it was Noi who answered it. “Hey, Mr Turner,” she chirruped.
“Hello, Noi, is your sister around?” I asked.
Noi’s eyes flicked to my saddlebags before she nodded. “Harvey’s upstairs going through big sister’s things. I can go get her.”
“Sure,” I said with a shrug.
Noi shot off with filly like speed toward and up the stairs, calling, “Sis, Mr Turner’s here, and he brought you flowers!” I found myself regretting that purchase again. The rattle of Noi’s hooves eventually reached one of the loft rooms and there was a hushed conversation. Noi came back down and across the ground floor to say, “Come in, Mr Turner, Harvey will be down in a sec.”
Stepping over the threshold, I noticed Carrot’s house had changed a little since Noi had come to stay. A few toys left out in the sitting area, a book or two, the wood oven in the kitchen area was warm, and everything just seemed more lived in.
I put my bags down on the dining table just in time to hear hoof-steps reach the top of the stairs above me. Then I caught sight of Carrot Top slowly making her way down the stairs, her mane seemed longer and curlier than ever, her coat shone, and her every step was the measured use of the well-toned muscles that only an earth pony farmer can get. A portion of my mind reacted very positively to this.
Carrot had once mentioned that her older sister had run away to become a film star in Applewood. If her big sis looked as nice as Carrot did after dipping into the cosmetic collection, then she had to be famous by now.
“Time Turner,” she said with a smile as she walked forward to pull me into a hug. My face was covered by her mane, and when I breathed in the smell was almost euphoric. Carrot’s big sis must have good taste in perfume. “It’s good to see you,” she said into my ear.
“I saw you four hours ago,” I replied, and Carrot stepped back. My eyes flicked to her flank and back. “What did you do to yourself since then?”
“Nothing,” she lied, judging by the smile. Carrot looked toward my bags on the table. “Are those flowers for me?” she asked with a bit of a grin.
“Well, I was in the market to get the golden syrup you wanted, and I bought them as a way to apologise to Azalea for charging through her store earlier.” I shrugged. “Of course you can have them if you want.”
“Noi,” Carrot called, “Could you fill a vase up please?”
“Uh, just a minute, sis,” Noi called back as she went into the kitchen area.
“That was very nice of you, Turner,” Carrot said as she reached out to take the flowers in her mouth. She pulled at the bouquet, but the angle tipped my bag toward her. Then Carrot gasped, dropping the flowers when she noticed what was inside. She took the heart shaped box out of the bag, put it down between us and said, “You got me chocolates as well?”
“Lyra basically forced them on me,” I said to justify myself. “But they are for you.”
Carrot glanced over my shoulder toward the kitchen, then pecked me on the cheek. “We’d better go help Noi find a vase.” Carrot picked up the flowers while I took my bags and we walked around the island counter into the enclosed kitchen area where Noi was out of sight. We found the filly digging through a cupboard.
After pulling out a few pots, Noi sat back on her haunches and grumbled, “I can’t find a vase.”
“I’ll find one in a minute, Noi,” Carrot reassured her. “You can help me make dinner instead.”
Noi brightened while I glanced toward Carrot. “Offering dinner already, Goldie?”
“It takes time to make something properly.” She smiled at me, “Got to start early.”
I glanced out a window at the clock tower. “It’s a few hours until dinner time.” Looking back, I asked, “What are you planning?”
“Just some of my famous plough-pony’s pie,” she said with a smile. It certainly caught my interest, Big Mac had told me once that Carrot made a very good pie.
Noi squealed in delight, dancing on her hooves. “Yes, my favourite! What do you want me to do?”
Carrot hummed, bringing a hoof to her mouth in thought. “Why don’t you make a salad, Noi?”
“Right away!” she said with a salute. Then she ran over to a corner of the kitchen to get a rolling stool, and took it over to the fridge.
I gave Carrot a questioning look and she said, “It helps her reach the countertop.” After grabbing a few leafy greens, Noi shifted her stool over to the island counter where she’d be out of the way. When she jumped onto the stool, her weight was enough to push it down so the base of the stool touched the ground and stopped it rolling away. I figured there was some arrangement of springs involved.
“She’s eager,” I credited to Noi as she started cutting up vegetables.
“We always cook together,” Carrot said, a fond smile crossing her face as she pulled pots and pans out of cupboards. “And she’s always experimenting as well. You’d almost think she had a cutie mark in it.”
I glanced back over my shoulder at Noi’s flank. “Not really, but since when did a mark define everything about somepony? Sure my hourglass is a dead giveaway about what I do, and your mark’s spot on about your carrot patch, but we also do other things.” I tapped a pan. “You cook a lot of excellent food…”
“Using carrots,” she added.
“…and carrots aren’t the only thing you farm. You’ve got…” my mind came up blank and I looked out the window. “…mixed vegetables.” My shoulders slumped down. “I don’t even know where I was going with this speech.”
Carrot Top gave me a consoling smile, and leant over to nuzzle me saying, “Your hourglass isn’t what makes you such a wonderful friend, and it doesn’t show how you’ve helped ponies everywhere.”
Yeah, it doesn’t, I noted to myself sarcastically. Though few would ever know how much my hourglass has done to ‘help ponies everywhere’, me especially. I doubt I would have made it into my second decade without my Time Turn. Far too many close calls were littered up and down my past.
Snapping back to reality, I noticed Carrot’s nuzzle was slowing down and she was looking at me with a bit of concern. It generally helps to return emotion rather than standing shock still with a blank expression on your face.
I smiled back at her. “I suppose there’s something to be said for sparing time for other ponies.”
She grinned back at me. “Can’t say I want to.”
It wasn’t long before Carrot had a pie in the oven. I was mostly useless during the process, considering my cooking skill was limited to X plus Y plus fire. Noi finished her salad long before we did, taking it over the table to wait for us.
Poor Noi would have been bored out of her skull since we never talked about anything she’d be interested in, like: school politics, the latest Sapphire Shores hit, and toys. At least that’s what I think she’d be interested in. She certainly wasn’t interested in talking about the other ponies in town or the clock she’d asked for.
While we talked, Carrot started on her special cake recipe. It was huge, a whole bag of flour and the entire tin of golden syrup went into making it. I was set mixing while Carrot cut up carrots, walnuts, and other things to add to the mix. When it was done I figured we’d have to have dinner first because there was no way to fit it in the oven with the pie.
Carrot sniffed at the air around the oven, and declared, “It’s done.” While she got it out, I was thinking about how many ponies in town would want timers instead of just guessing if their food was ready. The mechanism would be small like a watch’s, so it was another thing I’d need Colgate’s help with.
Carrot carried the pie pan over to the dining table while I carried the plates. Strangely, Noi didn’t seemed too thrilled to see dinner arrive. She also seemed a little greener than normal.
Carrot noticed immediately, she plonked the pie down and looked at my bags beside her. “Noi, did you eat my chocolates?”
She nodded back weakly. “My tummy hurts.” She had her forelegs wrapped around her lower barrel and she winced.
“Turner,” she said aloud without looking away from her sister, “get a bowl for Noi, one of the big mixing ones.” I nipped back into the kitchen and went through a few cupboards while Carrot tried to comfort Noi.
The bowl was plonked down in front of Noi, and Carrot helped her lean over it. A universal truth with nausea is that if something you ate doesn’t want to stay down, then it’s probably better to get it out anyway. Though I wouldn’t have thought that anything Bon Bon made would cause this sort of reaction.
I slid the heart shaped box toward me and flipped the lid off. A selection of candy lay within, but only three pieces were missing – the milk chocolate ones. It wasn’t like she’d made her way through half the box. I was missing something.
The bags, the chocolates, the pie cooling on the table, the salad, looking around I tried to think, while Carrot tried to get Noi to drink a cup of water. Something sparked, and I realized something: there wasn’t a vase of flowers on the table. We’d forgotten it, and the flowers were missing as well, until I noticed one sitting on top of the salad.
I remembered Azalea telling Thunderlane earlier: “Don’t eat the flowers either, they don’t really agree with a pony’s digestive system.” And when it comes to plants, if we can’t stomach it, it’s usually very bad; probably worse for a little filly.
“Noi, did you eat any of these flowers?” I asked as I pointed to the one in the salad bowl.
She nodded weakly. “It tasted kinda funny,” she said – also not a good sign.
I looked at Carrot. “I’m taking her to the hospital.” Before she could ask, I knelt down below Noi. “Do you think you can hold onto my neck?” She nodded.
“What’s wrong with her?” Carrot gasped.
“She ate some of the flowers I got you, they might be poisonous,” I mentioned as I gently helped Noi onto my back.
Carrot blinked. “Who would sell poisonous flowers?”
“Shampoo’s poisonous if you drink it,” I replied, “Azalea warned me, but Noi didn’t know that.” Standing up again, I quickly shifted my weight around. “You holding on, Noi?” I saw her nod out the corner of my eye and didn’t waste any time heading out the door.
Outside, I barely waited for Carrot to catch up before I charged out into the evening air, slid around a corner and onto the main road into town at full gallop. The Ponyville Hospital, a regional health hub, was on the other side of town from Carrot’s farm.
There weren’t many ponies out an about at this time, so I was able to keep my speed up as barrelled down Stirrup Street. Noi gurgled behind me, the rough urgency of our trip getting to her or the poison progressing. I hoped it was the former.
Noi barely managed to keep her hold, and the extra weight nearly toppled me as I cornered again at full speed. As it was, I nearly ran into somepony. Saddle Street was crowded. The reason every other street was so clear was that Pinkie was hosting a street party, again.
As we came closer to the party, I started to weave my way through more ponies. I dodged my way around Sassaflash, cut off Cheerilee as she made her way to the muffin table, and bounced off Mac. I’m not even sure Big Mac noticed as I stumbled away from him, the forward momentum I’d built up the only thing that kept me on my hooves.
The next obstacle was the food table, and I was still going too fast to avoid it. Rather than crash spectacularly into it – and ruin the party – I went for a clear spot near the punch bowl and hurdled over the trestle table. Once in the air, I beat my rear hooves down against the table surface to boost me forward again and clipped the punch bowl. Unfortunately, I’d figured wrong when I thought the punch bowl’s area was clear, I just couldn’t see Berry Punch through the identically coloured punch.
Thankfully, Berry had the presence of mind to duck her head as I passed, bouncing off her back and into a clearer section of street. I shot a glance over my shoulder and very briefly noticed that the punch bowl had ended up on Berry’s head. I’ll probably pay for that later.
All the excitement didn’t help Noi, and I heard a faint retching sound from my passenger. Then unbelievably, Pinkie Pie was beside me. “Just in time, Turner,” she giggled as she kept pace with me. A louder retch got my attention: Noi had thrown up the contents of her tummy into a conveniently placed bowl on Pinkie’s back. Then just as suddenly, Pinkie stopped chasing and waved back as us she receded into the distance. I supposed that dealing with sick ponies was just part of the Party Pony Package.
“Better out than in, Noi,” I reminded her as we made the final dash for the hospital.
We came through the front doors to find Nurse Redheart and Doc Stable filling in forms behind the reception desk. “Doc, need a little help. Noi ate some azaleas and she’s not feeling too good.” Noi echoed me with a groan.
The two medical ponies dropped what they were doing. The doc came around the desk and brought a hoof up to feel Noi’s head. “Has she vomited it up yet?” I nodded as Stable used a stethoscope on Noi’s chest. “Sinus bradycardia, though she is reasonably fit,” he said to himself. The doc tapped on one of Noi’s legs and she winced. “What does that feel like, young lady?”
“Like a lot of ants,” Noi said, “they’re on my ears too.”
“Hydrated rhododendron poisoning,” the doc diagnosed. “Not bad enough for paralysis, but enough to need to stay overnight.”
The front door opened and Carrot Top came in, breathing heavily. “Doc, what’s wrong with her?”
“Azalea poisoning,” the doc explained again. “It shouldn’t be life threatening, but at her age we’d like to keep her overnight for atropine therapy.”
“Oh thank you, Celestia,” Carrot sighed with relief.
“Nurse Redheart,” Doc Stable asked. “Can you find a bed for this little filly while I go get a course of atropine?”
Redheart checked something on her desk. “Room ten is free, if you’d all like to come with me.” The nurse led the way into the winding corridors of the hospital. We were given a smaller room to ourselves, and Noi was placed in the bed with orders from the nurse to drink plenty of water.
Doc Stable came in a few minutes later to give Noi a pink coloured potion, which she drank. The effects stopped Noi from wanting to cough anything up, but couldn’t get rid of the problem immediately. “The toxin will slowly fade,” the doc assured Carrot. “Just keep up the fluids and it’ll be gone by morning.”
“Thank you again, doctor,” she replied.
“No trouble at all,” the doc said before moving on to his next patient.
Carrot pulled me into a tight hug. “Thank you again, Time Turner.”
I patted her gingerly on the back. “Don’t worry about it, it was my fault anyway. I got the flowers.”
“But you ran across town to save her,” she objected, “and you figured out what was wrong. I’d hate to think what would happen if we’d ignored it and ate the salad ourselves.”
“It wouldn’t have been much different. The doc said as much, even for Noi – a filly – the dose wasn’t strong enough to do permanent damage.”
Carrot blinked as she thought about that. “I still don’t want to think about it,” she eventually answered, shifting on her hooves. “But you did the right thing.” Carrot drew me into another kiss. “Thank you.”
“Harvey,” said a weak voice. “Is Mr Turner your coltfriend?”
Carrot Top blushed and looked sheepishly at the bed. “Um, yes.”
“So it seems,” I added.
Noi smiled faintly. “I like him.” The endorsement set Carrot’s face aglow with a smile. Noi’s eyes closed as weariness claimed her, the smile remaining on her face as she drifted off to sleep.
Carrot hugged me again. It never ceased to amaze me how much ponies, especially mares, would attribute to somepony just doing the right thing. Fixing my own stupid mistake had only deepened Carrot’s appreciation of me, rather than just forgiving me.
Reaching up to one of my ears, Carrot whispered, “Could you stay here and look after Noi? I’m going home to get dinner and douse the oven.”
“No problem.” I looked down at the calm filly. “She’s probably going to sleep for a while anyway.”
It didn’t take long for Carrot Top to return, this time she had a set of bags with a covered pie tray and some plates. The pie had gone cold, but neither of us minded as we ate silently.
Morning found me in an armchair alongside Carrot. Since Noi’s time in hospital was entirely my fault, it felt like the right thing to do. Once the two Carrot sisters woke up, we shared a breakfast of leftovers before Noi – feeling much better for her night in hospital – was discharged in Carrot Top’s care.
After escaping more ‘thank yous’ and an offer to come over to try the cake that had been planned for last night, I made my way home and into my own bed to do the same thing Rainbow Dash does all morning. Sleep didn’t come easily; developments between Carrot and I weighed on my mind. It would probably be a while before I found myself comfortable with it.
Once the morning passed, the day brought me a visit from my other new best friend. Colgate rather cheerfully knocked on my door, her too bright grin contrasting nicely against my bed seeking frown.
“So, I heard you punched Berry last night.”
It took me a moment to figure that one out. “Oh, Berry Punch, yeah my fault. I was running Carrot’s sister Noi down to the hospital because she ate some of the poisoned flowers I’d been guilted into buying for Carrot from Azalea.”
Colgate’s eyes briefly flicked up as she thought about what I’d said. “Okay.” She blinked. “So you’re still making that watch for Carrot, right?”
“And for you,” I reminded her. This job would be tedious and she deserved to be paid somehow.
“Can you do them in blue?” she asked.
“I can,” I said tentatively, “Though we’ll see.” Using paper behind the handles on the face could manage that, but I’d have to see about finding some first.
Construction of the watches would take a few hours a day, and would require a few more sessions over the week. The first task was creating the long list of small parts. Outside my workshop, in my backyard sits a funnel like device. A miniature forge designed to melt small ingots of metal in a crucible, before pouring the liquid metal into a series of etched stone moulds that I’d gone into considerable effort making.
Colgate proved to be a steady horn with a pour, saving us considerable trouble when dealing with hot metal. Normally I’d before forced to use an unwieldy fork to lift the crucible and waste a lot of metal during a pour. It was just one of the benefits of having a unicorn around.
“So what metal is this, brass?” Colgate asked as we did a fifth pot to make the outer casings of the watches.
“Partially, it’s an alloy of copper, zinc, and aluminium.” Pronounced al-U-min-i-um I should add. “That last one’s expensive, but it stops the brass corroding.”
Colgate guided a stream of aluminium-brass into a watch casing shaped mould, its trip down the magical pipe from the crucible making a mockery of the usual difficulty. The only real saving grace here for the other two thirds of pony-kind here was that Colgate was an exceptional unicorn. “I never realized watchmaking would be so involved,” she commented as she moved on to other parts of the mould.
“It’s an interesting hobby,” I said as I pumped the bellows, bringing the temperature in the forge up to do another pot. “I actually travelled to Zebrica to learn more about mechanisms.” I put on a rough attempt at an accent, “‘Master your tongue, young one, or your work will come undone. Stone gears and water’s tears you must bring to task, if you truly want your cleverness to last.’ What we’re doing here still pales in comparison to what I’ve seen some of their masters do.”
“Water’s tears?” Colgate asked.
“A lot of Zebrican designs use water instead of a pendulum,” I clarified. “Metal is also more of an Equestrian thing.”
A knock echoed through my house and out my backdoor. I stopped pumping at the bellows to listen. The knock repeated: a triple knock, followed by a short pause before another knock, and pausing again before the sequence repeated. For some reason the delayed forth knock really bugged me.
The pair of stopped what we were doing and went to investigate. The knocker was on its fifteenth cycle when I opened the door. A dark pegasus stood on my doorstep and ran its eyes across my face and down to my flank. “Your name?” she droned.
“Time Turner,” I volunteered.
The pegasus blinked, then reached into a bag and pulled out an envelope. The plain stationary, durable and mass manufactured, lacked a marker saying where it was from, but there was only one group that would send a letter like that.
“Please sign for this delivery,” the messenger indicated a tear-off receipt on the envelope.
My eyes narrowed. “Why hasn’t this arrived through my regular contact? The EIS is supposed to contact me only through my local post-mare, Ditzy Doo.”
“This delivery is time critical,” the messenger justified. “It must be accepted and understood immediately.”
“Humph.” This was unusual, though justified since my last letter from Siren had been delayed a week while Ditzy was tied up with tornado duty. I took and signed for the envelope, tore off the receipt, and passed it back. “There you go.” The messenger wasted no time turning and flying off. Shutting the door, I went into my lounge room and put the envelope on my coffee table.
“What’s in it?” Colgate asked.
“Give me a minute.” I took my teeth to the end of the envelope and quickly opened it.
Time Turner
You are requested to investigate the following disturbance in Trottingham.
Case File: 8092375T
Suspected Disappearance of Equestrian Subject
An agent has been dispatched to assist you, and will meet you on the 10:30AM Train to Trottingham. We hope for a speedy resolution.
Siren
“Somehow I doubt that,” I muttered.
There was a wisp of air on my shoulder, Colgate’s head was hovering over me as she snuck a look at my classified communique. “Are all your letters like this?” she asked. “It looks like it was made with a template.” She eyed me. “I thought you said you were friends with Siren.”
“This isn’t that Siren,” I replied. Colgate looked suitably confused, so I elaborated, “The actual Siren is a VIP who runs the EIS on the side. This would be from one of the underlings just signing it in her name.” I stood up. “Still, looks like I’ve been summoned, probably because I’d know whoever’s gone missing and all the important ponies to talk to in Trottingham.”
Colgate’s ears perked up. “So you’re going on an adventure?”
“Yes.” I glanced back at her. “You still want to come on one?”
Colgate nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, when do we leave?”
“The next train going past Trottingham is tomorrow I think,” I said as I brought a hoof to my chin. “That’d be the reason for the courier as well, they couldn’t wait for Ditzy. The train only goes through once a week.”
“Trottingham’s where your family lives, right?” Colgate asked.
“Well, yeah.” Along with everypony I knew in my childhood.
“So I get to meet them, right?”
My ears flattened against my head. “Oh dear.”
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HAHA! YES! Thank you so much for uploading this!
I've gotta tell ya, I really enjoy your stuff. I just got finished with the other two Time-Turner stories and decided to re-read this one just to see if I missed something and lo-and-behold there was a new chapter waiting!
Gotta say, I am really excited to see how this turns out. I like Goldie so much and she really deserves a colt like Time Turner, but then you have Minuette coming in and... well, I can't help but feel bad for Turner. YOU ARE TOO LIKEABLE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!
Thanks again for the wonderful read! I look forward to your next update.
Oh god.
Kicker would be proud of those double ententes.
Turner you idiot, don't go on a trip to your hometown with the one everyone thinks you're pining over.
WOOOO
Thank you!
A new chapter!!!
You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to your next update.
Out of hundreds and hundreds of stories I've read on this site I feel I really must say:
I revere this story, and consider it gold.
And I've only ever said that twice before
~OvO
Every new chapter of this makes my day.
I wonder how jealous Golden is going to be, what with Turner leaving Ponyville to go home with the mare everyone else thinks he's got the hots for.
And the adventures begins. A few spelling errors in the beginning, but aside from that it was riveting as always, Rodi.
Oh no... This is going to turn into a love triangle, isn't it?
I so love how earth ponies are being portrayed in this. When I doubt, buck it indeed.
Can't quite decide if there I should be suspicious about the clock tower and it's mechanism, or if it's just being used as a metaphor for events in the story. Or if it was simply designed by Bloody Stupid Johnson.
Have I mentioned how much I like the Tuner/Golden relationship? In a 'verse with so much relationship drama, they are such a refreshing couple. Maybe it's the earth pony things, pegasi and unicorns just make things overly complicated.
A pegasus named Azalea, eh? Hard Reset reference?
Carefree Colgate is also pretty refreshing to see.
Never bet against Mac.
Hah! Fun Colgate is fun.
Support continues to build for my theory that Cadance is Siren. And a disappearance, sounds like some more pre-wedding changeling activity.
I'll echo liking how earth ponies are portrayed in this story. I'm also liking how Time Turner's relationship is evolving with Carrot Top and Colgate.
Welp, about a 70% chance that agent leads the two of them into a trap. Also the potential awkwardness of meeting the parents...
Shame Time Turner couldn't get a hard reset on buying those flowers from Azalea.
Y'know, it's a shame this doesn't have nearly as many views as the other big WP stories. This is definitely one of the better ones in my opinion! I look forward to more!
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I'm cheering for Colgate x Turner. Mainly because Colgate is my favorite pony. I don't have anything against Carrot Top though...
Raises eyebrow
The deadliest of all word arts.
A changeling.
I love the subtlety of "They don't really agree with a pony's digestive system."