Doctor Whooves hummed as he assembled bits and pieces together on the table in front of him, occasionally grunting as particularly difficult parts didn’t fit easily.
At a particularly testy spring, he heard a knock on the door.
That alone wouldn’t have made him move, but the three books slamming down to the floor from three different sides of the room did make him jump, and the spring shot out of his hooves, past his head and behind him somewhere.
Raising an eyebrow at that, he went to the front door and opened it to see a grey pegasus mare with crossed yellow eyes standing there.
“Ah, hi, miss...?”
“Hello!” She said, “I’m Derpy, you’re new neighbor!”
A piano fell to the ground a few inches behind her, and, while startling, she didn’t bat an eye.
Whooves grinned. Perhaps this nearby miss would make that chaotinuclear generator unneeded after all.