The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer


Whirlwind

The Mixer Chronicles:

Book Sixteen:
Whirlwind

It was the fourth day of my “vacation”, and I was enjoying myself finally.
Vinyl had invited me over to have lunch with her and Octavia.
“Hey Mixer! Glad to see you could make it,” Vinyl said.
“Hey Vinyl. I don’t have anything to do while I’m here so of course I’d make it,” I said.
“Well don’t just stand there like a stranger, come on in!” she said, bringing me inside.
“Hi Octavia,” I said, as Vinyl pushed me towards the kitchen table.
“Hello Mixer, good to see you having some down time,” she said, sipping on a glass of some kind of juice.
“So how have you been enjoying your vacation?” Vinyl asked.
“I’m beginning to enjoy it now,” I said.
“That’s good, too much work is never a good thing,” Octavia said.
“Oh, that reminds me, I got a new toy since you were last here,” Vinyl said, a wide grin spreading across her face.
“Oh no...” Octavia said.
“Come on Tavi, I know how to use it now,” Vinyl said.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Meet me near the Everfree forest in half an hour,” Vinyl said, running upstairs.
“Ok...” I said.
Octavia handed me a pair of earplugs, “You might want these.”
“Um...” was all I said as I took the earplugs and left to go the the edge of the everfree forest.

“There you are, you’re late,” I said as Vinyl waked up to me.
“Sorry, had to get an extension cord,” she said.
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, nevermind, just follow me,” she said, and led me to a clearing just inside the Everfree.
There was a covered box with a wire coming out of it sitting in the center of the clearing.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing special, just my BASS CANNON!” she shouted as she ripped the cover off and pressed a red button on the top of the large speaker.
“Um...” I began but was cut off by a concussive blast of sound.
After a few seconds, the bass cannon powered down and I was able to hear my thoughts again.
“You like it?” she asked, smiling at the path of knocked down trees in front of it.
“YOU WEAPONIZED SOUND?” I shouted so I could hear my words.
“Heck yeah I did!” Vinyl said.
“May I see it,” I said, trying not to yell more.
“Go ahead,” she said.
I instantly looked over the bass cannon, marveling at the amplification power on the inside.
“Do you make this?” I asked.
“Yep,” Vinyl said proudly.
I rubbed my chin in thought for a moment, “Meet me back here in three days.”
“Why?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” I said and trotted back to my house.

I went into my old lab, dusting off many of the things I had gathered in there.
I started building a little surprise for Vinyl, based on the bass cannon she showed me.

When Crystal got home from playing with the Cutie Mark Crusaders she opened the door to my lab and asked me what I was doing.
“I’m making a surprise for Vinyl,” I said.
“Cool, what kind of surprise?” she asked.
“Something that will make her jaw drop,” I said and connected some wires.
“Can I help?” she asked.
“You can help with some of it, but you have to leave some of it to me,” I said.
“Ok,” she said and went about helping me connect wires and assemble parts.

“So what was this surprise you wanted to show me?” Vinyl said as I led her to the clearing.
“I had this idea, and well, lets just say, you’ll never have to worry about carrying your stuff to gigs,” I said.
“What?” she asked as the clearing came into view.
“I spent four days on this, and most of my spare bits,” I said.
“What is that?” she asked pointing at the odd shape that was covered by a canvas.
I pulled the canvas away revealing a platform with a ring of speakers, a dj booth, and two sets of lights on poles.
Vinyl’s jaw fell open, and she took her glasses off to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
“It gets better,” I said, indicating that she should step up onto the platform.
“This is the most amazing Dj booth I have ever seen!” she said, admiring the wide array of controls before her.
“And look what happens when you press these buttons,” I said, indicating two red buttons on either end of the booth.
She flipped the cover off one and pushed it. ONe of the large speakers in front of the booth opened up, revealing a bass cannon.
I flipped the cover back on before it fired, “How do you like that? DOUBLE BASS CANNON!” I exclaimed, sounding like Vinyl at a party.
“So why did you build this thing way out here?” she asked.
“I didn’t,” I said.
“Then how did you move it here?” she asked.
“Turn it on, I have a couple sample records on the tables,” I said.
She turned it on and the ring of speakers started pumping out the wubs.
“Nice,” she said.
I flipped a couple of switches and the lights behind us came on.
“Now, see that button,” I said, pointing at a big blue button that said “Party time”. “Press it.”
She pressed it and the music shifted as the whole platform started to rumble.
“What’s going on?” she asked as the speakers on either side of the platform gave of steam.
I simply smiled a satisfied grin as we started to rise into the air.
“We just started this party,” I said, as she looked to see that there was a pair of legs underneath the platform.
“What the?!” she exclaimed.
“I call it the Mobile Party. It can take the wubs anywhere,” I said.
“I, I don’t know what to say,” she said, a tear running down her cheek. “It’s beautiful.”
“Don’t say anything, turn up the bass!” I said.
She turned up the music and we rocked out as it finished playing.
When it was done I powered the Mobile Party down and hopped off.
“Thanks Mixer!” Vinyl said as she powered it back up and proceeded to walk her new toy through town.
Needless to say, I got many noise complaints that day, but it was worth it.
Twilight knocked on my door the next morning.
“Morning Twilight,” I said coming to the door.
“That new machine that Vinyl has, did you make that?” she asked.
“Yep, took me four days,” I said.
“And I helped,” Crystal added.
Twilight looked at me shocked for a moment before carrying on, “How did you make something like that? I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“The idea just came to me after I saw the bass cannon, and I also got the idea to make Octavia something to,” I said.
“Not another one of those things,” she said.
“No nothing that large for Octavia, I was thinking more along the lines of an indestructible cello, with magical voice accompaniments,” I said.
Twilight looked dumbfounded, “How do you come up with these ideas?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve been getting more of them lately, like a musical number for Celestia,” I said.
“Are you feeling ok?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t feel any different, just more energetic,” I replied.
“Maybe you should go see a doctor,” Twilight suggested.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m going back to canterlot today, so I guess I’ll see you later,” I said.
“Ok if you say so,” Twilight said.
“Will you be there to see us off?” Crystal asked.
“Sure we will,” Twilight said.
“Yay,” Crystal said.
“Well, I have to get ready to go,” I said.
“Ok, see you later,” Twilight said as I closed the door.

I gathered together what plans I had started on and thought about what Twilight had said.
Was I acting a little strange? I thought. Nah, it’s just her worrying too much, I’m fine, never better in fact!
“Ready to go Crystal?” I called up the stairs.
“Almost,” she called back.
A few seconds later she came running down the stairs with a bulging saddlebag.
“Did you get everything?” I asked.
“Yep,” she chirped and we left for the train station.
As we walked my mind wandered to the state of the airship, I hope that Clockworks got it finished.
My thoughts were interrupted as I walked right into a pole.
“Mixer are you alright?” Crystal asked.
I rubbed my forehead, “Yeah, just bumped my head.”
“But I told you that you were about to run ito it,” she said.
“Did you?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“Sorry, I was daydreaming,” I said, sidestepping the aforementioned pole and continuing on my way to the train station.
That’s strange, I should have noticed that. I thought as I walked onwards.
“Equestria to Mixer, come in,” Twilight said waving a hoof in front of my face.
“What?” I said, shaken from my thoughts.
“Were you paying attention?” she asked.
“When did I get to the train station, I thought it was farther than that,” I said looking around.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Twilight asked.
“I’m fine, just having trouble concentration,” I replied.
“Well snap out of it for a second ok, we’re trying to say goodbye,” Twilight said.
“Sorry,” I apologized.
The others waved to us as the train pulled away leaving us watching them as the station slowly got smaller.
“So what’s so important that you keep spacing out?” Crystal asked.
“I keep thinking about things I could make for other ponies,” I said.
“Like what?” she asked.
“Well, I could make a new party cannon for Pinkie, or maybe a awesome new stunt routine for Rainbow Dash...” I said, my speech accelerating as I went, until possible things came flying from my mouth.
“Wow, thats a lot of things, one for every single pony in Canterlot and Ponyville,” Crystal said.
“Yeah, and I keep coming up with more ideas,” I said.
“Um, you can sit down now,” Crystal said.
“Oh, when did I get up?” I asked.
“When you were giving examples,” she replied.
“Maybe Twilight was right, maybe there is something wrong with me,” I said. “But I just don’t have time to stop and let these things pile up.”
Crystal raised an eyebrow at me.
“Ok, let me get started on a few things then I’ll go see a doctor,” I relented.
“Ok,” she said.
I went on thinking of ideas until we arrived in Canterlot.
I hurried to the castle, giving cursory “hello”s and “hi”s as I went to our house in the caverns.
I left Crystal standing on the lift as I raced to the airship dock.
“Tell me you finished it,” I said to Clockworks, making him jump.
“Yes, we just finished it yesterday,” he replied.
“Good,” was all that I said as I went back to the house.
“Hi Mixer enjoy your vacation?” Ivy asked me, blocking my way as I neared my house.
“Yeah, it was great,” I said, trying to pass her.
“What’s got you so worked up?” she asked.
“I saw that the airship was complete,” I said.
“Yeah, going to celebrate?” she asked, moving to either side as I tried to get past.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Ok, I'll let you go now,” she said and stepped aside.
I was past her before she finished.
I shut the door behind me and hurried upstairs with me plans and started to complete the drawings for them.
I kept the door to my work room locked so I would not be interrupted in the middle of the design process.
I briefly registered a knock on the door a few times but I took no notice of it, keeping to the designing of so many potential projects.
--
“One. Two. Three!” Trottson said as he and Brick knocked down the magically sealed door.
“Mixer, what is the meaning of this?” Luna called into the room, now a storm of swirling papers.
There was no response.
“MIXER!” Luna yelled in the royal canterlot voice, shaking the floor and sending more papers billowing around.
Still no response, just the sound of rustling papers.
Luna stormed into the cluttered room followed by Sombra and Crystal.
She moved through the storm of papers until she came to a desk with a sleeping form slumped over it, pencil in hoof and head resting on a half finished drawing.
“Mixer wake up!” Luna yelled.
Getting no response she physically shook the sleeping pony.
She finally used her magic to forcefully wake me up.
“Huh, what?” I asked sleepily before falling over into another stack of papers, instantly falling asleep.
“Luna what’s wrong with him?” Crystal asked.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anypony stay fall back asleep after that,” Luna replied.
“How long did you say he was locked in here?” Sombra asked looking around at the stacks of paper and piles of crumpled balls.
“Three days,” Crystal said.
“And he didn’t even eat?” Ivy asked looking at some of the pieces of paper.
“He never came out,” Crystal said.
“We should take him to see a doctor,” Sombra said.
“Yes, and send in somepony to take care of all these papers,” Luna said.

Brick and Trotson dragged my sleeping body to the nearest doctor while a team of secretaries was sent into the disaster zone of a room.
“So what seems to be the problem?” the doctor asked as Brick lifted me onto an examining table.
“He worked himself into the ground for three days, then we found him sleeping,” Luna said.
“Hmm,” the doctor said examining me. “He looks to be physically normal, aside from normal signs of sleep deprivation, but I can’t explain his deep state of rest.”
“What do you mean you can’t explain it?” Ivy said, concern coloring her voice.
“I mean, that it’s not anything I’ve seen before, maybe a form of magic,” the doctor said.
“Maybe you haven't, but I have,” a voice with a Saddle Arabia accent said, accompanied by a well dressed stallion.
“What do you mean?” the doctor asked. “And besides, you are only here as a guest.”
“What use am I if I don’t help when I can?” the stallion asked. “And what kind of physician does that make you not wanting to help a patient?”
The doctor grumbled and allowed the stallion to examine me.
“Let me introduce myself,” the stallion said, “I am Razes, I am a physician from Saddle Arabia, come here to study Equestrian medicine. “Oh yes, just as I thought,” he said, finishing his examination.
“What? What is it?” Ivy asked.
“He has a rare condition from my homeland. It is called Whirlwind Syndrome, or more commonly, the kiss of the wind. It makes the infected pony astoundingly energetic, able to run for miles without tiring, or perform acts of intellect rarely thought possible. The only problem is, eventually the pony will pass out from the continued stress, each time sleeping for longer, until they simple never wake up,” he said.
“Is there a cure?” Luna asked.
“And is it contagious?” Trottson asked, concerned of the possibility of an epidemic.
“No it is not contagious, and there is a cure, but I have to know what he has been doing in his high energy state,” Razes said.
“He has been inventing and creating,” Luna said.
“Then he must master the effects of the disease scattering his thoughts, inhibiting his ability to concentrate and thus finish any of his works,” he said.
“But how does that help?” Ivy asked.
“The wind is uncontrollable, having great power, but it also changes direction, never holding to a single purpose for long. The key to his recovery is to finish something, to quell the whirlwind of his thoughts with the satisfaction of completion,” Razes said.
“So he just has to finish a project, sound easy enough,” Brick commented.
“No my friend, he will try to move to another project, making any excuse to do something else, you must not allow him to waver from the task you decide,” Razes said.
“Ok, so when he wakes up we have to have him finish something,” Luna said.
“Yes, but be warned, do not let him trick you, and don’t wake him early,” Razes said and bid them farewell.
“So we have to pick something out of that room and have him finish it,” Ivy said as the four of them walked back to the castle.
“Yeah, but what do we pick?” Trottson said.
“We have to pick something that he can do easily enough,” Luna said.
“Where would we even begin?” Ivy asked.
“I’ll have Clockwork look for all the complicated designs and throw them out. If there are any projects left that we can do then we’ll pick one,” Luna said.
“Ok, so we have three days to pick something before he wakes up right?” Ivy asked.
“How do you figure three days?” Luna asked.
“Well, if it works in a cycle, then he should be asleep for at least two days,” Ivy said.
“Ok then, that should give us plenty of time,” Trottson said.
“Then let’s get to it,” Brick said, readjusting me on his back.
They got back to the castle and put me on a bed and left a pair of guards to watch over me while they went to the task of sorting through the designs.
“I didn’t think such inventions were possible!” Clockwork said, going through some of the more technical designs.
“Some of these look like unfinished music,” Ivy said.
“And this one here is a note on a spell,” Star Shine said.
“I don’t know what some of these symbols mean,” Trottson said.
“How many ideas could he have had?” Phalanx asked, sorting through a pile of flight routines.
“It appears that he had hundreds in a hundred different subjects,” Luna said, tackling two stacks at once.
“And some of these don’t even make sense, like this meme thing,” Rose said.
“I can't believe he could make such architectural drawings,” Brick said, slowly slogging his way through another stack.
“Is this a dress pattern?” Thunderlane asked, sifting his own stack.
“He also has a few weapon designs,” Sombra said.
Nine ponies worked on, sorting through the designs I had made.
Eventually each finished with the stacks and produced a few ideas.
“So, what do each of you have?” Luna asked.
“I have a design for a small cannon,” Clockwork said.
“I’ve got this, it says something about making an indestructible cello,” Ivy said.
“I’ve got this, um, it appears to be a blade of some sort,” Sombra said.
“Anything else?” Luna asked.
“Just these note on a spell, but they are kind of vague,” Stat Shine said.
“Ok, let me see them,” Luna said.
The four papers were passed to her and she levitated them in front of her.
“No,” she said, letting the cannon drop. She let the spell notes drop with a look of confusion on her face. “The blade will take too long, so this ‘indestructible cello’,” she said at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up in a room with two guard watching over me and a splitting headache.
“Happened what?” the jumbled words came spilling out of my mouth.
“He’s awake, go tell the princess,” one of the guards said, the other rushing away.
"Quousque erat sum de?" the words in an ancient tongue spilled out of my mouth, seemingly of their own accord.
“What?” the guard asked.
I shook my head, trying to get my tongue under control again.
“I said, how long was I out,” I said, finally my words coming in a coherent, and understandable manner.
“Three days,” the guard said.
“Three days huh...” I trailed off, my mind’s gears starting to turn quicker.
I tried to get up to leave but the guard stopped me.
“I have been ordered to keep you here until the princess says otherwise,” he said.
“Why would Celestia want me to stay here?” I asked.
“Celestia did not order this, Luna did, he said, spreading his wings to make it impossible for me to push past him.
“Then why would Luna want to keep me in here?” I asked.
“She did not say, only told us to keep you here and tell her when you awoke,” he said.
I started thinking about what I was doing before I fell asleep. I remembered going through ream after ream of paper writing down the beginnings of project ideas.
“Mixer,” Luna’s stern voice shook me from my thoughts.
“Why did you have me put in this room?” I asked.
“Because we were worried about your health,” she said in a soft tone.
“But now that you’re awake we’re going to help you with a project of yours,” Ivy said.
“Which one?” I asked.
“The indestructible cello,” Sombra said.
“Ah, the cello for octavia, you know that’s not all that it is. It also uses a set of crystals to give a vocal accompaniment to the cello’s strings,” I said.
“Yeah, and we’re going to help you finish it,” Trottson said.
“But what about the other projects?” I asked.
“We can do those afterwards, for now lets get working on the cello!” Crystal said.
“Ok, so where are my plans?” I asked.
“Right here,” Clockwork said.
“Ok, so first we’re going to need the wood for the body, some chemicals, eight crystals, a set of strings, and some other components,” I said.
“Ok, I’ll go get the wood,” Brick said, running off.
“I’ll get the strings,” Ivy said.
“I’m already working on the crystals,” Sombra said.
“What kind of components do you need?” Clockworks asked.
“Mostly the miscellaneous parts of a cello, like the tuning pegs and the frets, things like that,” I said.
He nodded and hurried off, leaving Trottson and Luna left.
“I’ll arrange for the contents of your lab to be moved here,” Luna said.
“Ok, but what about while I wait?” I asked.
“I have to give you a report on what happened while you were gone and asleep,” Trottson said.
“And I haven’t had anypony to play with in days,” Crystal said.
I sighed, “Ok, give me the report.”

After an overly lengthy report by Trottson, Brick returned with the wood for the cello.
“Great, this should be enough for the cello, now I need to cut it to size,” I said.
“And that is why I’m here to help,” an earth pony mare with a bass clef cutie mark said.
“And you are?” I asked.
“My name is Crescendo Waltz, and I repair the instruments of the Royal Orchestra,” she said.
“Oh, so I take it you can cut the body for a cello,” I said.
“Among a plethora of other instruments, yes,” she said.
“Well, let’s get to it, that cello won’t build itself,” Trottson said.
“I’m sure Crescendo can handle cutting the wood for the body and neck,” I said.
“On the contrary, I would like some help with it, it would make it go faster,” she insisted.
“Fine,” I sighed.
“I hope you are handy with a saw,” she said, and led me to a room with room for us to work in.
“So why do you need my help?” I asked, while she measured a piece of wood for the front of the body.
“You don’t think that I do this all by myself do you. And besides, I don’t have the magic that you do, making you another invaluable tool in construction,” she said.
“So what, I’m a glorified set of clamps?” I asked.
“I never said that,” she said tracing the body outline.
I tried to sneak out of the room while she was finishing the outline.
“Going somewhere assistant?” she asked as I neared the door.
“How did you?” I asked.
“I have a finely trained ear darling, I can tell an out of tune string from two rooms away,” she said, calmly finishing the outline.
“So what do you need me to do?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“Can you cut along these lines?” she asked.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“For now yes, not many ponies can cut along a fine line,” she said.
I snorted and began cutting the outline.
“Hey Mixer are these stings ok?” Ivy asked holding six bundles in her mouth.
“Yes, those will do just fine,” Crescendo said.
“Ok, so how’s it coming?” she asked.
“Not too fast,” I said, showing Crescendo the cut body.
“Very nicely done,” she said.
“How are the chemicals from my lab coming?” I asked.
“Most of them have been moved,” she said.
“Then let’s go, I have to prepare the special lacquer and dip for the strings,” I said.
“Ok, I’ll go with you,” Ivy said.
“But who will help Crescendo?” I asked, attempting to have a chance to check on any of my other projects that could possibly be worked on.
“We’ll handle it,” Star Shine said as he and Rose walked in.
I facehoofed, “Ok, let’s go.”
We walked to another room where they set up my equipment.
“So what’s first?” Ivy asked.
“Let’s make the dip for the strings, it’ll make them stronger without inhibiting their ability to produce sound,” I said.
“So how do you do that?” she asked.
“I mix the chemicals while you sit and watch,” I said.
“Why can’t I help?” she asked.
“Because, you don’t have magic, and therefore can’t handle some of the chemicals,” I said, selecting the base components.

After hours of mixing, stirring, and reacting, the dip and lacquer were done.
“Oh is it done?” Ivy asked sleepily.
“Yes, finally,” I said, wiping my face off.
“Good, because all the parts of the cello have been cut,” Luna said walking in with Sombra.
“I think you can handle just coating the parts in lacquer and dipping the strings,” I said.
“But what about the crystals, you still need to use the magic on them,” Sombra said.
I sighed, “Fine, hand them over.”
“What?” Luna asked.
“It almost seems like you are forcing me to finish this, when I have so many other things I could start on while I wait for each step to get done,” I said.
“That’s just silly, why would we stop you from doing so many wondrous things?” Sombra asked.
“Guess, I’m just getting impatient with how long it is taking to finish this,” I said, tapping my hoof.
“Then let’s go assemble the cello, tune it, and mount those crystals,” Luna said.
“Ok, let’s go,” I said, carrying the crystals with my magic.
We hurried to the workroom, more of the others gathering behind us.
“So you have all the components to finish now?” Luna asked once everything was assembled in the workroom.
“Give me some space, I’m going to speed this up with magic,” I said.
I levitated the pieces of the cello, the strings, all the little nails and screws, a few brushes, and the crystals and started the process. I coated the pieces, dried them magically, dipped the strings, assembled the cello, strung it, enchanted the crystals, and socketed them into the body of the cello with magic. By the time I was done, sweat was dripping of my brow and my horn was smoking lightly.
“Finished,” and with those words I passed out.

I woke up later in a bed with Ivy, Sombra, and Luna sitting over me.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Do you have an urge to make anything?” Luna asked.
“No, why?” I asked.
Ivy gave me a hug, “You’re cured!”
“Was I sick?” I asked.
“In a manner of speaking,” Luna said.
“And thank you for the cello,” I heard Octavia say.
I sat up and saw that not only her and Vinyl, but the whole Lunar guard and Twilight and her friends were there.
“Ok, what’s going on?” I asked.
“You caught a bug from Saddle Arabia,” Sombra said.
“It made you have an irresistible urge to make things,” Twilight added.
“You had to finish something to get better,” Crystal said.
“So we helped you,” Luna said.
“I guess I owe all of you thanks,” I said.
“You being better is thanks enough,” Crystal said and gave me a hug.
“Ok, ok, if I keep getting hugs I might burst,” I said.
“So what now?” Luna asked.
“I think I’ll go back to my normal schedule, after all, everything that was different is done with,” I said.
“That sounds good,” she said, and left with Sombra.
As the other gave their goodbyes it seemed like things would finally be normal, possible once and for all. I was left alone in the room with Crystal after all the others were gone.
“I’m glad you’re back to normal,” she said.
“I’m glad to be back to normal,” I said.
“So everythings going to be ok from now on?” she asked.
“Hm?” I asked.
“No more problems, just normal happily ever after?” she asked.
“I’m not sure about that, but I’ll be normal, and I’m sure everything else will be too, for a time,” I said.
“Ok, so long as you’re ok,” she said.