It was Sunday, when Clockworks alarm did go off, she reached out to throw it off the table, but then it came to her it was Sunday, so she just tapped it on the top and it got silent.
She jumped out of her bed and got ready for the day, quickly heading downstairs.
“Oh, you are up already?” her father said surprised.
“Of course” she said with a smile, like it been nothing unusual at all.
“I see you are also in good mood?” he said while flipping some pancakes around in the pan.
The young mare grinned from ear to ear “yes, today I will show our Scooter to Trixie!” she cheered.
“Mhh... I seen your Scooter... interesting construction, but how you make it move, whats the fuel?”
“I can't tell you” she crossed her hooves in front her chest and showed her tongue “That's a company secret”
Her father served the read pancakes along with some pears and juice “A company secret?” he laughed “since when you got a company?”
“Herb told me, that his father said that's a good idea... and we might even could sell it some day, so we said we make a company”.
“This really sounds like a useful idea” he smiled.
“You think so too?” she asked hopeful.
“Your mother would be very proud on you”. He nodded.
The filly could not be happier today and shattered some tears of glee.
“Now better eat up, or you get late” her father said, keeping a eye on the clock.
“Right” she said and hastily ate up her plate, when it already knocked on the door.
“This must be Herb!” she said and answered the door to find him and whats looked like his father.
“Hello?” she greeted a little confused.
“Hi, Clockwork” Herb greeted.
“Hello, Clockwork...” his father reached out his hoof, to shake hers a little “is your father at home as well?”
“Uhm. Yes... daaad!?”
A minute later a little ruffled black stallion stepped next to her “Morning Herb and...”
Once again the stallion reached out his hoof “Tonic, Dr. Tonic... i'm Herbs father... “
“Nice to meet you.” he nodded and shook his hoof “You can call me Patchwork... but Patch is also fine...”
The stallion laughed a little at this.
“Did I say something funny?”
“Dad. His father is pharmacist” Clockwork pointed out.
“I get it” now he laughed too “i guess we are in the same business then...”
“You could say so” the cyan stallion said, since both jobs had a lot of similar trades to it.
Herb already had shown Clockwork the bottle with the fuel he had created and while the adults had their little talk, they snuck away to try it out.
The two got inside and continued their conversation “What brings you here? You need any service?” Patchwork asked.
“No... I don't own to much machinery. I just come along to visit the mare our kids talk so much about.”
“You talk about Trixie right? I have met her a few times...”
He rose an eyebrow on this “So, what you think of her?”
“I think Trixie is … alright, but I just wanted to bring my kid home, so we hadn't a conversation. Once in a while Clockwork forgets the time when she is over there...” he waved it off “aside of that... I mean i'm not so much in magic” he quoted this with hooves “ but Trixie does her job mostly well, from what I heard and her story's...” he pointed towards the open door, which led to his workshop “...the kids built the Scooter after that.”
“My son told me the story to this too... so I thought its time to give her a visit... sadly my wife Ivy wasn't to be persuaded. She thinks the mare is awkward”.
Patchwork could not say to much to this, he never had a direct conversation with her, so how could he judge her?
“Want we take a look?” the doctor said and pointed towards his son who waved towards the adults to get their attention. “Look! Look!”.
The two god in the back and Clockwork just was finished to put in the “secret fuel”.
After a deep breath, the filly pulled the start string and the machine came to life with a steady “tuk tuk tuk” noise, but this time it was way more silent than the last time and once again the air smelled like mint.
“I see, you fixed the scooter” Patch said “And your fuel works well it seems” Tonic added.
After that first demonstration, Clockwork brought the Scooter outside, while Herb put on a helmet since he always wanted to be the test-driver, while Clockwork usual would make notes on her own or comment. She didn't mind to stay back, since she had the better hoof writing anyway.
On this second try, Herb grabbed onto the handle and pulled it back a little, so the roller now moved on his own with him on it, then he opened it a little more up and it got fast and faster, till it almost had gallop speed for a few hundred meters, to return back to the group.
A few other stallions and mares had noticed this awkward vehicle and already chatted wildly about it.
The two fathers gave a proud applaud to their achievement.
“Great work you two!” Patchwork said as he pulled his daughter close.
“I'm proud on you Herb...” Tonic said when his son stopped next to him “i always knew you got the patience” but unlike Clockwork, Herb still wasn't quite as happy “i just wish mom had seen it too...”
“I will tell her all about it and then we show it to her...”
Now his son was happy too.
“I hate to interrupt,” Patchwork said “but didn't you plan to visit Trixie?” pointing on his leg clock.
“Than we better get on our way” Tonic said and reached out his hoof to Patchwork “See you, Patch, it was nice to meet you”.
Patchwork grabbed and shook it “Same here... feel free to drop by anytime... with one-day prior warning” this time the stallion laughed together.
Tonic was on the side sidewalk, along with Clockwork, while Herb was driving the scooter the road up and down, to put it onto a little stress test... also it just made to much fun.
“... you are in Herbs class, right?”
“Yes. I sit next to him” the filly said.
“I see you two work good together” he said and observed his son, having fun “And... do you like him?”
“He is nice... just sometimes a little angry”
The stallion nodded “but I think, you can help i'm on that... he really likes you, you know?”
The filly blushed a little, what the adult just told her was not quite what she wanted to hear, he was -just her friend- … and much as she knew, he thought the same.
On the other side of the street the sisters just walked along, heading for her mother's store, when one of them spotted the colt on his scooter.
“Look!” Feather-Dust shouted, pointing on the colt.
“Damn, they really got it to work...” Topaz said “you got any idea how dumb we look on Monday?”
“Well, than we get sure to get our hooves on it, before Mrs. Wander-Hoof sees it.” she said with a devilish grin.
The sister followed the trio up to Trixie's home.
“Ain't that where this freak lives?”
“Yes... mother said she is quite incompetent... what a fit!”
The door of the mare opened and she was joyfully surprised to find her young visitors to be both there.
“Nice to see you” she said and noticed the green stallion behind them “and who are you?”
The stallion greeted her with a hoof shake “Dr. Tonic, i'm the father of Herb” he said and put his hoof on his son shoulder.
“Well, I'm the great and Apologetic Trixie” she declared with a smile “nice to meet you”.
“Apologetic?” the stallion wondered, but the filly's seem to get the joke.
“I think your son will tell it later to you... but for now I have a story prepared, why don't you come in?”
“We wanted to show you something first” Clockwork said and pulled the mare gently outside, so Herb could show of their new scooter a little, while she would explain, how they had come up with the idea.
The mare smiled from ear to ear “You two are great listener... and Scootaloo sure had loved it!”
Now the young ones blushed both, when Herb suddenly found Clockwork to hold his hoof, making him stop his breath.
“Now... lets get inside, the Coco gets cold...” the mare said and the kids walked in.
“I guess you are a little to old for my story's, but there is still an empty seat waiting”.
“No thanks. I just wanted to meet you in person and...”
“See if i'm crazy?” the mare said sassily.
“What kinda person you are” he chose “my son likes you a lot and that's why I was a little worried... he spends quite a lot time here.”
The mare sat down and took her large hat off, to grab into and get out a deck of cards, forming a fan with them.
“Pick one.”
The stallion was now confused “You want to show me a card trick?”
The mare nodded.
“I know this trick...” he said and pulled a card. It was ace-heart. Now he put it back into the stack.
“I assure you, you never seen this version” she said and mixed the cards trough, to offer it to him again.
The stallion picked a card and looked upon it. It was spade-black-twelve.
“That's not my card” he said.
The mare now showed him the rest of the fan, every single one of the remaining thirty-nine cards was ace-heart.
“It takes more than a single pick, to know somepony.” she smiled “Why don't you come in and I make you a cup of tea?”
The stallion gave short applause “Okay. You won...”
Now the two got inside. She served the filly's her usual coco, as well him some tea.
He later would had to ask his son about the chocolate-milk a few things, but for now he didn't want to make a big deal out of it.
“What you two say, when our new guest gets to pick today's story?” she suggested and the others agreed.
“Uhm... I fear I don't know to many fables.” he said rubbing his chin.
“Dad, you are supposed to tell her, what kinda story you want... “
“Like if you want something about a princess or cute animals...” the filly added.
“Or knights and dragons... you can pick whatever you want! She seen it all!” the colt said.
“So that's how it works?” this sure was odd, but not bad “Uhm...” he thought about for a moment.
Some kind of love story could not do to much harm... but he sure had like seen how she handled something with monsters in it... if she would scare the kids or anything, than he still could stop her and forbid his son to come here. May even have a talk with Clockworks father.
“I guess I take what Herb said... the one with dragons...”
“Alright than. Good pick” she said and her eyes wandered around in the room, till she got out one of her oldest books.
“This one sure will do fine... she said” waiting a moment for the audience to make it comfortable and raising the tension “You remember, how I told you last week about the monster and the pegasus mare?” she said and the figurines came out of the chest to land in front of them.
“This story play's right after that... and would you know... it has a dragon in it!” she said like she would surprise her self.
“You see... the monster and his mare both had become mortal... so they could age together...” the figurines danced cheerfully together, at first it was something like a quick cha-cha, but soon turned into a slow waltz.
“But the monster still had and big problem... one day, he could not be around anymore, to protect his biggest treasure” with that a hoof full of bits floated in a circle all around them over their heads and landed in a small bag next to the monster “this treasure was almost has valuable like his wife to him... so he had to take good care of it” with that a few black dressed pony's floated next to him, engage him in a threatening pose, but the monster figurine knocked against them and fought them off - one by one.
“You see... everypony wanted it, they knew it was worth more than they ever could spend... not even Princess Celestia has something like this...”
“Than why he didn't hide it?” the colt asked
“Or give it to Princess Twilight... she was his friend, right?”
The mare shook her head.
“He had no doubt Twilight could take good care of it... but he could not risk anypony to find it.... also he didn't want to put this burden onto her... being a Princess is a lot of hard work... also... this wasn't just a gold treasure we are talking about here... this one was also magic!”
Now the bag with the coins in it began to glow in a pulsating manner.
“So giving it to anypony or even something like a alicorn was unthinkable... the magic might could harm them one day...” than a statue came flown by, which was ten times the size of the monster “So the monster did the smartest thing he could think of - he hired a big scary dragon to protect it... the meanest and biggest one he could find in all the world...”
Once again thief's came and tried to steal the treasure, but the big dragon statue spit blue fire and scared all of them off quickly.
Tonic felt a little awkward but rose his hoof like a child in class “May I?”
The mare giggled “just ask ahead...”
“Why than he gave it to the dragon... I know they collect treasures but... wasn't the magic also dangerous for him?”
“Good question, glad you asked” she said “your father is really smart” she winked to Herb, which smiled proud.
“You see, there is one thing unique about dragons, which makes them different to all other creatures ...”
With that a small collection of creatures passed by. All sorts of pony's... griffons... changelings... buffalo, Zebra's and a few he didn't even could name.
“but Dragons are way more special than all of them... because when a dragon gets old and grows...” now the statue of the dragon had a blue glow to it and slowly got even bigger than it already was, until the dragon was half the size of a kid and stopped growth.
The dragons statue now was more twenty times larger than the monster, who had hired it... which on itself was already twice as big as the pony figure next to him.
This sure was some frightening scale to imagine.
“It also becomes immune to magic... which is also a mayor reason most pony's fear them...”
Now one of the alicorn's came floated by.
“So when a old dragon got angry... not even an alicorn could stop it!”
The alicorn circled the dragon and small sparks of blue shot from its horn, but the dragon didn't move at all, like it was just a fly, bothering an elephant.
“Not even all of them?” the filly asked.
“No, not with magic...”
“Darn... than that dragon could just eat them!?” the colt said amazed.
“Probably... but you forget, the princesses got big armies...”
Now a dozen or two, tin figures floated by and got between them and the alicorn, they looked like they belong to the royal guard, pushing the dragon slowly back with their sheer count.
“...and that's why dragons usual stay away from Equestria, it could end bad for them if they miss behave...”
The mare paused to wait for the kids to soak all this information up, before she continued.
“So you see... a dragon is the best guard there is - for a valuable treasure... nopony else in Equestria has an army big enough to defeat it... and the princesses never would use theirs, unless if they had to”.
“What did the monster give him anyway!?” the colt asked “I mean it must be really expensive if he got such a huge dragon for it!” thinking of the countless bits it must been.
“And where did the dragon go?” the filly asked a little worried.
“Well, he ...”
But suddenly there was the sound of shattering glass in the back of her home, at first she thought a glass had dropped from the table or something. Her magic sometimes run wild...
but than another and another shattering of glass was to hear, followed by “ponk plok” like somepony threw stones.
“Wait here” the mare said and quickly got up, to check whats going on, when the stallion followed.
Of course the two young ones could not hold back their curiosity and followed to steps after them.
The mare got into the kitchen and a small rock flew through her window and landed on the wall next to her. The howl glass front was destroyed by now and much as she could tell some stones even flew to the higher windows on the first floor.
She quickly summoned a forcefield, so not more stones would fly in, while the green stallion charged forwards through the backdoor “Who is there!? Come out!”.
While the group was distracted, the front door slit open and an orange filly stumbled carefully in, to find the scooter in the small entrance hall leaning on the side.
She grabbed onto it and pulled it outside, behind the next bush.
“How does that thing work!?” she wondered and switched a few small leaves on the side and shook it, but it just gave a few tired roars from it.
“Our scooter!” the colt shouted and run screaming towards the door “THATS OURS!”
“Wait!” Clockwork said and got right after him.
The orange mare could hear the colt come, so she dropped the scooter in shock and run, so she would not get caught. Her sister also had abandoned her post, since Herbs father almost had found her.
Herb got outside and searched quickly the place, to find the roller. It looked okay, so he gave it Clockwork and run onto the street, turning his head in all directions, before he run up to the nearest corner and managed to get a peak onto a green tail which quickly disappeared behind a house, but when he arrived there was nopony in sight. Who ever it was had gotten away.
He felt so angry, like he would explode any moment, so he gave a tree next to him a few strong horse-kicks, before he returned to his friends.
“Whoever that was, is gone.” he said grumpy “Is the scooter alright?”
Clockwork had took a closer look on it already “yes... just the adjustment are off...” now she came back to him “did you see anything?”
“Just a green tail.”
It wasn't to much detective work to make a guess on that one “a green tail… no idea from mechanics... and there had been two of them... you think what i'm thinking?”
Now Herb also got the idea and slapped his hooves together “Oh I beat them up so badly tomorrow!” he grunted.
The two returned inside and the stallion checked for them “Are you alright?”
“Yes we are... and we got a idea which slime-bags did this!”
The colt explained quickly their theory, while Clockwork wanted to look after Trixie.
The mare sat in her kitchen and tried to pick up all the pieces, while her head hung sadly to the ground.
“Its all broken...” she sobbed, when she picked up one of her favorite glasses, a old friend had given her a long time ago – it had a big crack on the side and the handle was missing “Why pony's keep hating me?” she now began to cry bitter tears onto the ground “I didn't do a-anything wrooong...”
The other two now also came in and watched this sad spectacle.
The howl glass front was only pieces on the ground and a lot of other things had taken damage as well. Given the sharp cold winds which used to blow around here at night, it sure would cause even more problems later.
“How i'm supposed t..o pay the rr-eeepair?” she sulked, putting her hooves onto her face.
The green stallion carefully led the young ones outside “give her some time... I try to calm her down... and Herb, why don't you bring your girlfriend home?”
“But dad I...”
“Now.” he said a little more sharp and his son obeyed.
His father was most of the time on his side, but he also had his moments on which it wasn't a good idea to argue.
“Lets go clockwork.” Herb said sadly and pushed the scooter outside, while she was walking next to him.
When they were a few houses further, Herb made his anger space “Monday, first thing in the morning, I will beat some blue next to her green!” the colt cursed out loud.
“I know how you feel, but right now we can tell it for sure it was them.”
Now he gave her a angry glance.
“What you mean!? Isn't it obvious!? They tried to steal our scooter...”
“Yes... but …” she tried to put it carefully “Trixie hasn't to much other friends as well... I mean maybe the thief just tried to rob the next best thing?”
“Yeah and what about the green mane I seen? Don't you tell me there are other slimy thief's with green mane!”
“You are right... it was most likely them... but I just don't want you to get into trouble again.”
“I don't care! Than I get detention... so what?”
The filly stopped “but I care... also you think Trixie would like this? Didn't you see how upset she was?”
He felt so bad for her, he just wanted to help somehow “I... but we cant let them get away...” he said desperately.
“So, you want me to go alone to her for the next weeks... or months?” Clockworks voice now got saddened “Didn't you notice? Today was the first time, there was somepony else with us! She is quite alone, you know...”
The colt knew that for sure. Whenever he had to knock alone on her door, Trixie's face might smiled, but her eyes gave away how sad she must had felt, that it wasn't both of them.
He tried his best to swallow his anger for the moment “So... what we do than?”
“I think your father will talk to their parents... and I will ask mine to do so too... so they get trouble...” she assured him “but I would like to help her somehow... paying glass is expensive.”
The colt wondered “How comes you know?”
“One time... my dad had to work long again and I wanted to visit him on the construction site... but I accidental knocked over a pole and it broke a big window nearby. He had to work for free about two weeks for that...” she said ashamed, about her clumsiness.
“And I always thought, just I break stuff” the colt said stunned, rubbing his head.
“I don't think my parents could help her out... my mother doesn't like her”
“My dad doesn't know her to good and want to save the money for my studies...”
“You going to study?” the colt asked confused, but the filly shrugged “I think so... you don't?”
“I thought I work with my father... here in Dodge Junction”
A silence had took place, now that both knew, their paths might go different ways one day.
“I … would like to visit you then...” the colt said shy.
“And if you can't... I write you every week...” she promised “you might could read them to Trixie too”
The colt blushed and lowered his head “So” he coughed “what we do than about the money?”
“I don't have any...” she said “the Scooter was quite expensive”.
“Me neither, spend it for candy...” than he paused “wait... you had to pay the Scooter your self?”
The gray girl nodded “My father always says: that I have to learn to handle my budget”.
This was also new to him, since he was allowed to use items from father for the fuel.
“So we are both broke” the filly summed up and they both got back into thinking how to earn something to help her out.
“What about the treasure?” it occurred to the colt “If we find it, we could buy a thousand windows!” then he added “… and maybe send those snails to the moon with the rest of it”.
“You mean that from the story?” she asked.
“Sure, didn't you listen? Its worth like a bazillion bits or so! We might could buy Trixie howl Canterlot!”
“But she said it was magic... kinda cursed.” Clockwork said worriedly.
“Don't worry, we don't keep it long... we just get it and sell it...”
“And what about the dragon?” she said, not convinced in the least “he would stomp us like mice!”
The colt shrugged “right, we are small as mice... but that's why we could sneak past him... you did see how big he is... he never notices!” Herb said confidently.
The filly put her hoof onto her face. That was the dumbest plan that colt had ever spit out... and oh boy... he had spit out plenty dumb plans over the years... like that bubble gum incident... sometimes she still could feel the sticky gum in her fur... not to mention the humiliation when the barber had to cut it out of it.
After a long sight she closed her eyes and repeated back to him what he just had said, hopefully, he would notice how dumb it sounded when she did it.
“So you want to steal from a giant dragon - his cursed treasure, who if he finds us, stomps us to a powder like paste, will roast the paste with fire and eat it after... right?”
“Basically... yes” he said unable to notice any flaw in the plan “Oh wait... no... she forgot to tell us where it is...”
For half a second she had thought he came to sense, but she should had known better.
Trixie never told a story twice. She never did, no matter how long they begged or tried to bribe her with their allowance or treats.
Herb put on his best thinking face to crack this nut “Maybe we could lend her book?”
The filly just walked away on that. If the dragon idea was stupid and out of question... this one kicked it with ease from the first place.
When they was the first time in her house and they dared to get close to them, Trixie had quickly put a blue forcefield onto the shelf's.
“Please, don't touch them... they are all I have...” she had said “... or I cant have you as my guests anymore.” she told them, like she would think about a long lost friend.
“I don't touch her books... she will throw us out forever!”
“But I just wanted to lend it...”
“No chance...”
“You know what... fine. Then I go alone!”
The filly stopped and turned to her friend “What?”
“You heard me! I cant beat up these blockheads... we cant pay the damage... and you play chicken, instead of helping her!”
“But I want to help her...”
“I see how much...” he said sarcastically “you sure think my idea is dumb, but I didn't hear any better coming from you!”
The colt put down the scooter onto the grass and walked off in the opposite direction.
Clockwork didn't know what to do. He was kinda right, but he would do the wrong thing, so she struggled back and forth, but then it occurred to her - his father was still around, he sure would talk sense into him, hopefully.
A few minutes later Herb was the one to sneak around the house. He tried to peek into the windows to spot Trixie and her father.
The magic mare was still very upset and his father tried to calm her down.
“Today I talked to Clockworks father... you might know he is in hoof-work businesses?”
The mare nodded slightly “I know.” she said dry “And you are pharmacist...”
“I see you don't just tell story's...” he said playful, but the mare just had found a shattered frame, the photo showing her next to a group of six other pony's. The frame was broken and the picture had cuts all over it and she teared up again.
“I'm sorry, we will get the ones responsible for this...” he said “but for now we must close this windows, or you get a cold at night” the stallion said “i will ask Clockworks father if he can help us on this... and don't you worry about the costs... we will figure something out.”
The mare slowly nodded and her father left the house, while she put everything back in his place.
This was his chance. He quickly snuck to the front door and got into the room.
The book was still laying on her seat and she was busy.
He snuck as silent as he could, when the mare came closer and he quickly got down behind the big chair, begging she would not find him.
The mare collected the glasses from the room and levitated them into the kitchen to put them away, since nopony was around to drink them anyway.
Herb quickly got up and grabbed the book under his hoof and did his best to sneak out, but having only three hooves to walk, he forgot to hold the door and it slammed close behind him, so he ran for his life.
“What? Who is there!?” the mare asked into the empty room “Tonic?”
But there was nopony to be seen than she noticed the book was gone too and she yelled out in anger “BRING IT BACK!” the words hit him like a shockwave.
Herb fell to the ground, to quickly get up again and keep running like he was chased by a wolf.
Everypony in the road had heard the scream as well when they all turned head or stumbled onto the street to look what had happened.
Than the crowed began to point hooves and Herb slowed down to turn around.
Above Trixie's house some kind of dark weather cloud had appeared, while the rest of the sky was blue and sunny... and than there was a beam of blue magic shooting towards the sky, which split up right below the cloud, to unfold like a flower – creating a big forcefield, which slowly sunk down around the borders of her property.
Some curious neighbors tried to get close to the house, demanding she should stop this nonsense, but the storm-cloud above shot lighting right in front of their hooves, to make clear that their next steps might would be their last ones.
One stallion tried to simply break the forcefield with his magic, but the magic got reflected and some blue shot along with it right back, throwing it onto the other side of the street, right into a bush.
“Sweet Celestia!” a mare said “she is crazy!”
“We better call the police” another one agreed, while trying to help up the brave unicorn in the bush.
Herb had no idea she was capable of something like this.
All the small tricks she had shown over the years... and now this... but there was no way back.
He had to book in his hooves and could not return it, even if he wanted to.
So he ran. This was all he could do now, running and hoping he could make up for it somehow.