//------------------------------// // Fallout // Story: Brown Note: An Off-Color Love Story // by Starlitomega //------------------------------// Since Clockwork had started dating Twilight, she spent more and more time at the castle than her own home. Together, they spent their time reading books, trying new experiments, and Clockwork even started showing Twilight how to fix some of the more simple clocks and appliances. As they spent more time together, the veneer of princess fell away quickly as Clockwork realized that Twilight never was the princess that she imagined her to be. None of the princesses were, for that matter. Today was no exception to this rule either. In one of Twilight’s workrooms stood a tesla coil which practically dwarfed Clockwork, standing two feet higher than her. Currently, two purple hooves and a madly swishing tail stuck out the bottom, causing Clockwork to let a metallic chuckle slip through. “I swear this thing was working last week. I go to turn it on today and nothing,” Twilight grumbled, her voice echoing in the large metal structure. “What in Equestria do you need a tesla coil for anyway?” Clockwork asked. “Science, of course! It’s not about what it can do! It’s about the potential as well! Wireless electricity transmission, Induction, safety testing…” “Or maybe you think they just look really cool,” Clockwork teased. “It’s for science!” Twilight insisted. “Sure it is.” By now, Twilight was beginning to learn not to rise to Clockwork’s bait unless she wanted it to escalate to an impromptu wrestling match, or cuddles, or both. So it was with great reluctance she simply decided not to escalate. There would be time for that later. “Nnnngh! Ugh! The motor smells like it’s burnt out and this screw is cross threaded. If only Applejack was here. She’s good with this sort of stuff.” “I’m good at that kind of stuff too you know,” Clockwork said pointedly. “Yeah, but if you were to do it, you’d have to take most of the coil apart to reach the motor. Come to think of it, so would AJ, since she doesn’t have magic. Do you think you can reach me my toolkit?” Twilight asked. “It’s on the desk by the door.” Clockwork rose to her hooves and trotted over to the desk. “Sure. Just gimme a minute.” Twilight’s toolbox stood out like a sore thumb, being orange and all. Just as she turned to bring it over, something caught her eye. Sitting on the desk was a pile of papers with Clockwork’s name boldly written on the top. Putting the toolbox down for a moment, she shuffled through the papers, curious as to why they would have her name on them. One page in particular with diagrams caught her eye. Pulling it out of the stack, she started skimming through it. Treatment course of action. The mask, though effective, is only a temporary solution. It affords the subject no way to eat or drink anything without removing the mask first. Due to the inconvenience of removing the mask, the subject avoids or circumvents these situations altogether. It’s clear that there is only one way to truly rectify this problem: Surgery. Beneath this paragraph were several rough drawings of what she assumed were a pony’s vocal cords. Several lines and markings indicated where a surgeon would cut to potentially fix her problem. More writing followed. I’ve enlisted the help of one Dr. Graft, well known for his surgical skill. After several meetings with Dr. Graft, he told me he could devise a surgery that would alleviate the subject of this condition provided he can learn the cause. The only steps that remains is duplicating the unique phenomenon that the subject displays, and discovering the cause. To let such a gift go would be a monumental waste. Flipping back to the front page, she scanned the corners until she found what she was looking for. Clockwork let the paper slip from her hoof. A sickening feeling rose in her stomach as the words repeated in her head. This paper is more than a month old. Twilight knows how to fix me… but she won’t? “Hey, Clockwork. Any time now on the those tools.” Clockwork turned back to the two legs sticking out of the tesla coil, completely unaware of the anguish Clockwork was in. Rage built up in her chest as she thought about the complete and utter betrayal put upon her by her partner. “You want these tools? I’ll give you these tools!” Grabbing the toolbox, she hurled it at the other side of the room. She didn’t even flinch as the tools clattered to the ground, making an awful racket. Immediately, Twilight slid out of the tesla coil, her eyes wide in shock. “Clockwork? What happened?” Grasping the paper, Clockwork turned to Twilight on the edge of hyperventilating. “How could you? How could you! All this time you had a plan to fix me, to fix this stupid voice of mine! How could you?!” Throwing up her hooves, Twilight shook her head. “No, you don’t understand! It’s just a theory! Nothing is set in stone, yet. Even if I wanted to take you right now to get it fixed, I couldn’t! The doctors would have to examine you and finalize a procedure. Meanwhile we have plenty of time to figure out exactly how we can recreate the effects of your voic-woah!” Twilight teleported just in time to dodge a wrench thrown her way. “To recreate my voice? Why?! I don’t care about recreating my voice! It’s disgusting! All I want is to have a regular life! Why can’t you understand that?” Twilight ducked behind a nearby desk just as a screwdriver flew above her head. “I do understand that, I really do! You just don’t understand how valuable your voice is! So many lives could be saved! In the meantime, the doctor can work on an operation!” “If you really cared, then why haven’t you brought me to this doctor yet? How many times have you met with him?!” Clockwork demanded, her breathing growing more and more shallow. “I...” “How many?!” Clockwork repeated, much louder this time causing her mask to emit a shrill metallic screech. “Three,” Twilight answered, her voice faltering. “Three times, and not once did you bring me! That doesn’t sound like you were trying very hard!” “You don’t understand! Please, listen to me!” Twilight pleaded. By now, Clockwork had run out of things to throw. Not that she could with the way she was breathing. She gasped and panted for air through sobs. “I-huff-never meant-huff-anything to you-huff-did I?!” Peering over the desk, Twilight finally stood up. “No! I mean, yes, you did! You were my first date! I’d never kissed anypony before you! Please, just calm down, take a deep breath, and we’ll talk this through.” Clockwork’s world spun as she struggled to breathe. On shaky hooves, she finally saw eye to eye with Twilight. “I have-huff-nothing to say to you!” Bolting from her spot, she ran through the castle and out the front doors, still sucking down air. She made it to the closest tree she could find and leaned against it, still gasping for breath. Her hooves frantically undid the clasps on her mask until she could finally yank it free. Tossing the device aside, she finally fell to the ground, a hair’s breadth from passing out. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she wailed without a thought as to how loud she was being, without knowing or caring who was around. Rolling on her side, she slowly curled into a ball and sobbed, letting the tears flow. Home… I wanna go home! Her mind drifted, bringing visions not of her new home in Ponyville, but her old home in Canterlot, and the comforting embrace of her mother. Bon-bon flipped the sign on her shop to closed and locked the front door behind her in one smooth motion that came from years of practice. “Am I glad to see you, Lyra! Today was nuts. It was like everypony wanted candy today.” “Awww, did my marefriend have a busy day?” Lyra lovingly nuzzled Bon-bon beneath her neck. “I bet I can help relieve some of that stress.” Bon-bon gave a little purr as she started down the road. “Would your stress relief include a bath?” “It might.” Lyra teased. “And maybe a massage?” “Maaaaaaybeeee…” “How about something special for dinner?” Lyra laughed. “You remember the last time I cooked? No can do on that one. Would a pizza be okay?” “If there’s candles,” Bon-bon whispered in her ear. “You have very high de… mands…” Lyra trailed off as something caught her eye. “Is something wrong?” Looking ahead, Lyra saw a pink pony with a magenta mane running across Ponyville with tears in her eyes. “That’s Clockwork! C’mon, she might be in trouble!” Both ponies took off into a gallop, following the brightly colored mare as the sun settled beneath the horizon behind them. Eventually they made it to Clockwork’s house, just in time to see the door slam shut. Lyra jumped to the door and knocked frantically. “Clockwork? Clockwork, are you okay? You look like you were crying. Did something happen?” Putting their ears to the door, both ponies listened for any sort of noise, but they heard nothing. “Clockwork, we can’t help you if you don’t talk to us. Please, open the door,” Bon-bon begged. Silence. Exchanging nervous looks with her marefriend, Lyra cleared her throat. “We’ll leave you alone for now, but if you need anything, please, come talk to us, alright Clocky? We love you.” Together, Bon-bon and Lyra slowly walked away. Occasionally they looked back, hoping the door would swing open. It never did. “I have an idea,” Lyra announced. “Uh-oh. This can’t be good,” Bon-bon mumbled. “If Clockwork won’t talk to us, I know one pony that will.” Clockwork silently listened to Lyra and Bon-bon’s pleas from the other side of the door. She couldn’t deny that part of her wanted to throw the door open and just cry in their embrace. She also knew in her current condition, it would only lead to disaster… so she stayed quiet, letting the tears roll down her cheeks instead. Once she was sure Lyra and Bon-bon had left, she grabbed a pencil and piece of paper. Sitting down at the table, she drew a heavy breath and started writing. Hi, Mom. I’m just writing because I’ve had kind of a bad day. I wanted to say hey and ask how you’ve been without me around to pester you. I miss you, mom, and I just wanted to say how much I loved you. Your daughter, Clocky. A few errant tears managed to fall on the letter which she tried to wipe clean, to no avail. Clockwork stared at the letter for what felt like an eternity. There was so much she wanted to say, but she couldn’t find the words. Rather than debate over it any longer, she folded it up and tucked it into an envelope. Stepping up from the table, she trotted to the door and cracked it open. Night had fallen and the moon hung high in the sky, lighting up the streets with it’s meager glow. Glancing about to make sure nopony was around, she walked out the door and galloped to the mailbox. Tossing the letter inside, she ran back to the house and stared at the mailbox once more before sighing and shutting the door. Haven’t had dinner yet... Clockwork waited. She expected a growl from her stomach any moment now. After a few moments passed, she sighed. Guess I’m not hungry. Trudging down the hall, she pushed her bedroom door open with her nose and walked to her bed. That comforting sensation of sliding into cool sheets did more to remind her she was now alone, and that this was all she had to look forward to from this point forward. An empty bed. An empty house. An empty life. She’d always suspected she was missing something before she moved to Ponyville. It’s why she decided to make such a grandiose change in the first place. She just didn’t know what was missing in her life until she and Twilight became close. It was fake! She just wanted to use you! Right from moment one she saw you as a weapon and nothing more. She wants the power of being a princess, but she doesn’t want to deal with the harsh realities. Curling into a ball, Clockwork desperately tried to put the voice out of her head. Sometimes rulers have to make decisions, and sometimes those decisions will get ponies killed. She just wants you so she never has to make that call! Rolling over, Clockwork clamped her hooves over her head. Shut up! You don’t know her! She loves me! You heard her! I’m the first pony she’s ever kissed! You’re the first pony she’s ever wanted anything from. Clenching her teeth, she felt the tears start trickling down her cheeks. Shut up, shut up, shut up! The sobbing came back, staining her pillow with fresh teardrops. She lost track of the voices as she cried her eyes out. She laid in bed like that for what felt like an eternity until exhaustion finally helped the earth pony to sleep. Unsurprisingly, when the next day came, Clockwork wasn’t much better than she was the night before. She went from lying in bed, to reading the occasional book, to going back to bed. It wasn’t until the evening that she forced herself to make something to eat: A single grilled cheese sandwich. As insubstantial as it was, it quieted the growling from her stomach and afforded her a little bit of focus. On the table before her was a neat and orderly series of parts from a gutted appliance. Last time she’d met with Lyra, before her spat with Twilight, the unicorn happened to mention that Bon-bon’s very expensive blender recently gave up the ghost. She had eagerly volunteered to fix it, hence the pieces strewn about her desk. Cheap coupling. I should have known. Every year these “premium” blenders seemed to have some problem with them. The year before it was faulty O-rings. The year before that, the safety switch. The most recent batch featured a coupling that usually broke after about six months of use. Naturally, a pony like Bon-bon who ran her own business ended up killing it in half that time. Further inspection of the coupling revealed something else she wasn’t please with. Of course. It’d have to be a 3107 type. Celestia forbid the jerks use the same coupling they used the last three years. Probably why it broke. Looks like that’s another special order. Her eyes moved to the window where soft moonlight beamed back. Nothing else I can do tonight. Might as well go to bed. Slowly, she slipped out of her chair and left the workroom, closing the door behind her. Trudging toward the bedroom, her steps came to a halt as a loud knocking came from the door. Who could that be? She knew exactly who it was. It was Twilight with her tail between her legs, ready to apologize. For the most part, Clockwork was relieved, though part of her wasn’t quite ready to face the alicorn yet. Steeling her nerves, she walked to the door and opened it. On the other side of the door was not an alicorn. The pony standing on her doorstep was somepony far more familiar to her. Clockwork’s hooves immediately went to work. “Mom?” Clockwork’s mother stood on her front steps, a suitcase enveloped in her magic. Her light blue mane was disheveled and poked out in many directions. Even a casual observer could tell she had been in a hurry. “Clockwork, sweetie, as soon as I got your letter, I packed up and hit the next train to Ponyville,” Page said, throwing her hooves around Clockwork’s neck. “I would’ve been here sooner, but I had to stop by the castle and request tomorrow off, and the train was late for some reason, oh and don’t get me started on...” Page Turner fell silent when she pulled away from the hug and looked upon her daughter. “Sweetie, why aren’t you wearing your mask?” At this, Clockwork turned her head, fresh tears started gathering in her eyes. The suitcase fell out of Page’s magical field as gently put her hooves on Clockwork’s shoulders. “Clocky? What’s wrong, sweetheart?” “I can’t breathe when I’m wearing it.” “You were wearing it just fine when I came to visit. Did something happen? I knew something was wrong...” Clockwork lowered her head. “We had a fight. She can fix me, but won’t. She only wants my speech,” Clockwork signed out. “Oh baby, Twilight loves you. I’m sure she just wants what’s best for you and Equestria.” “If she loved me, she would fix me!” Reaching out, Page pulled Clockwork into a motherly embrace. Patting her on the back, she quietly shushed the crying mare. “It’s okay, sweetie. Momma’s got you.” Sitting in her mother’s hooves, Clockwork silently cried out the tears she had been holding back all day. The lingering sense of betrayal still stuck in her, like a knife in her back that she couldn’t pull out. So she cried it out. Just like that fateful day so many years ago, mother and daughter entwined their hearts, and weathered the storm. Twilight knew thousands of words—a natural result of her incessant study habits. At this point in time, however, one word stood head and shoulders above them all. Regret. Ever since her fight with Clockwork, Twilight had fallen behind in her schedule, she had failed to complete multiple checklists, and had even turned her back on a potential friendship problem. She knew before the relationship started that things could turn sour, and had tried to mentally prepare herself. Obviously, it had been ineffective. With a sigh, she crumpled up another doomed checklist and tossed it into the trash. Her eyes wandered to the window where the midday sun peeked through the curtains, teasing her with its radiance. I really should go outside. I’m not getting anything done in here. If my studies have taught me anything, this is a time when I should turn to one of my friends, not avoid them. Her legs shuddered a bit as she left her seat, having gone numb from sitting so long. Twilight ambled into the hall, only to come face to face with a familiar mint-green unicorn. “Hello, Princess Twilight.” Cocking her head, Twilight looked at the unicorn in puzzlement. After all, she never really visited the castle unless it was for a party. “Lyra! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?” Lyra grit her teeth. “Yes, Twilight, something is very very wrong. Last night while going home, Bonnie and I saw Clockwork running home from your castle in tears. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” All day long Twilight had been avoiding that name. Each time it had wormed its way into her thoughts, nothing but regret and anger filled her heart. The last thing she needed was a lecture from somepony she hardly knew. “What happened between Clockwork and I is our own business. If you want to know what happened so bad, ask her.” Bon-bon stepped out from a nearby pillar as if she had just materialized from thin air. “We tried. She won’t even answer the door. We knew if something happened, it had to involve you.” In Twilight’s mind, the fight played again. Clockwork looked furious, heartbroken, and worst of all, betrayed. Why had she been so careless as to leave her notes out for Clockwork to find? What hurt even worse was that Clockwork wasn’t far off the mark. Sure, Twilight didn’t actually have a plan to fix her voice, but she did avoid bringing Clockwork to Dr. Graft to try and make some progress on reproducing the effects of Clockwork’s voice. She knew deep down that the reason she hadn’t gone straight to Clockwork’s with a bouquet of flowers was because she was guilty. “Twilight?” Instantly Twilight snapped back to attention as tears started down her cheeks. “I… I messed up.” Lyra cocked an eyebrow at the alicorn. “What?” “I said, I messed up!” Twilight said between a sob and a shout. “I had been researching plans to fix and recreate her voice, but she found my notes! She thought I was holding out on fixing her until I could duplicate its effects. I’m not a surgeon! All I drew up were plans, it’s not like we could fix her tomorrow!” Lyra and Bon-bon shared a look of concern between each other and then walked over to the distraught pony. The unicorn leaned over and offered her a shoulder which Twilight gladly took. “I love her, I really do,” Twilight continued, sobbing into Lyra’s shoulder. “She didn’t believe me, she just ran off! Clockwork, I’m so sorry!” Bon-bon’s ears drooped a bit, her lips falling into a frown. “Listen, I know Clockwork is hurting just as much as you are. Just give her a little time, and all you’ll have to do is go over there, apologize, and then it’ll be done and over with.” Leaning out of Lyra’s hug, Twilight wiped the tears out of her eyes with her hooves. “You don’t understand. She was furious, and she had every right to be. Maybe it’s better if we call it quits, before I hurt her again.” Bon-bon gave the alicorn a poke. “You’re no quitter, Twilight Sparkle. You’ve been through worse than this.” “When I was in Canterlot,” Lyra started, “I had some close friends, one of whom I treasured very much, though at the time, I doubt she ever noticed. One day, out of the blue, she disappeared without a word. Next thing I know, she pops up in Ponyville. I felt betrayed, devastated. I hopped on a train to Ponyville to go give her a piece of my mind.” That rotten feeling bubbled up in Twilight once more. For the second time today she had to face a deeply painful mistake she wasn’t ready to confront. “On the way to this pony’s house, I stopped by a candy store,” Lyra continued. “Inside I met a mare who simply asked how I was doing, and boy did I give her an ear full!” “You sure did!” Bon-bon chuckled. “Heh heh! Bonnie and I hit it off right away, and suddenly, all that anger I was holding just vanished. I moved to Ponyville the moment I could, and I met so many great ponies because of it. I didn’t give up, and neither should you.” Twilight’s sobbing stopped, only giving an occasional sniffle. “I’m sorry I was a terrible friend.” Lyra leaned in, giving Twilight a hug. “It’s okay. if it wasn’t for that, I might never have found Bonnie. Besides, it’s obvious how far you’ve come since then. Just… give Clockwork a chance to remember the good times you’ve had together, and I’m sure she’ll come around.” Bon-bon tapped her marefriend gently on the shoulder. “C’mon, Lyra. We should probably give her some space.” A purple hoof grabbed Lyra before she could move. “Actually, I’ve had too much space. I could really use a friend or two... if you’re not too busy. Would you two like to stay for some tea, or coffee?” Sharing a smile between each other, Lyra and Bon-bon both nodded. “We’d love to.”