//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Gears of Romance // by Phoenix999 //------------------------------// Widget stood outside of a house. Its window shutters were closed, the lawn slightly overgrown. He took a look at his watch. Eleven o’clock. Am I too early? It doesn’t look like anypony’s awake in there. The house was eerily devoid of signs of life. Widget glanced at the side of the mailbox. Berry Punch… Yup, this is the right place. Walking up to the door, he stopped for a moment and listened for signs of life inside of the house. Eventually, he took in a deep breath and knocked on the door. Widget waited for a few minutes and raised his hoof to knock again. His hoof came down heavily to knock on the door as it swung inwards. Taken by surprise, Widget whacked Berry’s nose, missing the door. “Umpf!” “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Berry!” Widget examined Berry’s face. The damage seemed to be minimal. She wasn’t bleeding, and the only evidence of physical trauma was a patch of ruffled fur on her muzzle. His hoof slid gently across the affected area, revealing that no bruising had occurred. Satisfied, he realized he only inches away from her face. Heat rising to his cheeks, Widget pulled back and coughed into his hoof in a failed attempt to dissipate the awkward mood. Berry stood with wide eyes, mane disheveled more than usual and a distinct hint of red on her cheeks. A moment passed in awkward silence as the two ponies stood in Berry’s doorway, both of them staring into each others eyes, their minds blank. They were lost in a mixture of shock, embarrassment, and a palpable tension that Widget couldn’t quite describe, it was a feeling of dread and a feeling of soaring spirits simultaneously. After Widget’s mind started to work once again, he rubbed his mane and slowly regained his composure. “So… sorry if I woke you up, I didn’t have much on my work list today so I figured I could take an early lunch.” “Oh…” Berry’s eyes had returned to normal, her cheeks still showing a slight blush. “Well, why don’t you come in, then? I still have to get ready, but you're welcome to take a seat. It shouldn’t take too long.” “Sure.” Widget followed Berry inside and took a seat on a nearby couch. He couldn’t help but glance at her flank as she walked upstairs. The sway in her hips and a tail flick bringing Widgets heart to pound just a hair faster, his eyes tracing the lines of her curvy form. Damn... Once she was out of sight, Widget took a deep breath as he steadied himself with a hoof on his chest. I can’t believe I… Ugh… I knew she’d be trouble. The sound of running water reached his ears as he looked around the room. The living room was furnished with the couch, a rug, coffee table, and a fireplace. A grin crossed Widget’s face as he recognized the same scent of wild-berries that permeated Berry’s bar wafted in the air. The warm colors of the red brick gave him an inviting feeling of warmth and coziness. Upon careful inspection, a spot on the wall above the fireplace was slightly discolored indicating that there used to be a picture hanging there. Despite the way it looks, this house feels like a home. Hoofsteps interrupted any further contemplation. Berry stood at the foot of the steps. Her coat had a sheen to it and her mane was combed more than usual. Widget smiled. “You sure cleaned up pretty good! Ready to go?” Berry smirked. “At least one of us should look presentable.” Widget chuckled, looking down at his own slightly matted coat. “True enough.” “So where are we going?” A playful glint shone in Widget’s eyes. “Oh, you’ll see. Just follow me.” He opened the door and gave an over-exaggerated bow. “After you, madame.” “How am I supposed to follow you if I’m leaving first?" Berry grinned widely, receiving a frustrated sigh from Widget. Satisfied, she nudged his shoulder and walked out the door. Widget followed, closing the door behind him. Widget strode up next to Berry, and led her down a series of turns. Berry smirked as they reached their destination, a simple storefront with a sign that said ‘Carino’s’. They entered and a yellow mare addressed them from behind a podium. “Welcome to Carino’s, how may I serve you?” Widget smiled. “I’d like a table for two please.” “Of course, right this way,” the yellow mare replied. Widget and Berry followed the mare to a table seated for two, outside on the patio. Widget and Berry took their seats and were given menus. “My name is Sunny, and I’ll be your waitress today. May I start you off with something to drink?” Widget scratched his chin. “I’ll have a lemon-lime soda.” Berry said, “I’ll take the cherry soda.” “I’ll be back with your drinks in just a moment.” Sunny left the table to go get the drinks. They both browsed the menu and looked through the various dishes available. Berry put her own menu down. “Have you decided what you want?” “No, I haven’t actually been here before. But I liked the way the place looked, so I figured I’d give it a shot,” he said. “Any suggestions?” Berry laughed. “Well this is a good choice of venue. I’d suggest either the alfredo pasta or the spaghetti. They’re both pretty popular.” “Hmmm… I guess I’ll go with the alfredo pasta then,” Widget replied, placing his menu down onto the table. Sunny returned, placing their drinks in front of them. “Have you decided on your order?” “Yes, I’ll take the spaghetti and he’ll take the alfredo pasta.” Berry replied without hesitation. Widget eyed Berry curiously. A bit of the dominant type I see. “Certainly, I’ll have your orders out as soon as they’re ready.” Sunny collected the menus and left Widget and Berry. “So, Berry,” Widget said, “why run a bar? Don’t get me wrong, I’m eternally grateful that you have the only bar in town, but I can’t help but notice your cutie mark is a strawberry and grapes.” “Checking out my flank, huh?” Berry winked, laughing. “I love operating the bar. But you’re right, my special talent isn’t exactly bartending. My special talent deals more with the berries that the alcohol is made out of. I actually want to own my own winery someday, and the bar is a step in that direction. Opening a bar costs a lot less money, time, and energy than opening a winery.” “Oh, that makes sense. With a winery I would suppose that you would have to buy the land and equipment. Then you’d have to hire ponies to work the fields and you wouldn’t even see your finished product for at least a few years.” Widget nodded in understanding. I hope she doesn’t bring up her flank again. No need to fuel the fire. “How close are you to your goal?” “Not close at all.” Berry sighed, lowering her face. A grin grew on her muzzle and she looked up at Widget again. “But it’s going to work out eventually!” Widget laughed. “Yeah, I can’t see Ponyville being the best place to get rich quick with a bar.” “Yeah, but there’s more demand for it than you think.” Berry snickered. “Like certain ponies who wander into town and decide to open their own shops here.” Before he could make his own witty retort he was interrupted by Sunny, who came back to the table. Placing their orders in front of each of them, Sunny bowed. “Please enjoy your meal.” Sunny then left, leaving a steaming pile of pasta covered with a creamy white sauce in front of Widget. The scent wafted into his nostrils, causing his mouth to water instantly. He didn’t waste any time and set to work on the plate of heaven-sent goodness. Berry watched with a bemused expression. “Slow down there, big guy. Don’t want to choke, do ya?” Widget stopped mid-shovel, a tinge of red barely visible on his cheeks as he lowered his fork and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Sorry, but this is way better than I expected it to be. Then again, I was used to processed food a lot when I was living in Canterlot. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that real food would taste so good after all of that.” “Well, the food here is good. So I can’t really blame you for that, I guess.” Berry chuckled, taking a bite of her spaghetti. “So what about you? What drove you to open your own clock making shop?” “Well, I—” Widget cut himself off as he noticed a white unicorn mare with pink hair walking his way. No way… it can’t be. There’s no way she’d be here, it must be someone else. Attempting to shake off his worries, Widget turned back to the conversation with Berry. “I apprenticed with my Grandfather and got a lot of commissions from doing it. Some things happened and I wanted to branch out and make my own shop.” “And you just had to go to the smallest backwater town in all of Equestria didn’t you?” A voice said in a rather annoyed tone. Widget closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his right hoof in a vain attempt to make the aberration go away. Berry blinked and looked over at the new pony, who had stopped just outside of the patio fence. “And you are…?” Damnit, Berry acknowledged her. That means she’s actually here. Widget groaned, dragging his hoof down his muzzle and lowering it below the table. His ears splayed backwards and his face dropped in a defeated expression. “What in Tartarus do you want with me, Twinkleshine?” The white unicorn harumphed as she lifted her nose to the air, as if she was talking to some disgusting creature. Looking down at Widget, she said, “Please, I don’t want anything to do with you. You should be glad that you're even graced with my very presence!” Widget rolled his eyes and turned to face Twinkleshine. “Then why are you here? And more importantly, why are you interrupting my lunch?” “Is this the kind of company you keep nowadays? Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I would have thought that you would be dating a higher class pony, at the very least.” Twinkleshine sneered. “Hey!” Berry scowled as she lifted herself off of her seat. Widget stopped Berry with a hoof on hers. He shook his head. Berry eased her body back into her seat. “That still doesn’t answer my question, Twinkleshine. Just spew it and get on your way—neither of us wants to drag this out any further.” Widget kept his hoof on Berry’s and looked over to Twinkleshine. “Oh that’s right, Widget, control your mare." Twinkleshine snickered. Berry was about to get up again, but Widget pulled her back down. Twinkleshine smirked at Berry and turned to Widget with a smug grin. “You’re a hard pony to find, Widget. Why are you in Ponyville? Did you run away?” Widget sighed. This is going nowhere fast. “Just tell me what you want, already.” “You’ve gotten boring, Widget, you used to be so easy to tease.” Twinkleshine gave Widget an irritated snort, a bored look gracing her features. “Father was looking for you. He has a commission he just had to get you to work on. Price is of no consequence.” Twinkleshine threw a sealed envelope at Widget, who caught it in his hooves. “I’ll look it over later. I assume your address is the same as before?” Twinkleshine rolled her eyes dramatically. “Obviously.” “Then I’ll send him the estimates by mail,” Widget said, placing the envelope on the table. “Is there anything else? Or can we go back to our meal?” Twinkleshine snorted. “No, nothing else. Have fun with your newest marefriend, Widget, let’s hope this one lasts more than a week.” Twinkleshine turned and trotted off into the distance with her nose held high. Berry’s glare, that could make a cockatrice shudder, remained fixed on the retreating mare, while Widget breathed deeply and sighed, releasing Berry’s hoof. Widget slumped back in his seat. Berry faced him with an annoyed expression on her face. “What in Tartarus was that all about?” Widget exhaled; he knew Berry wasn’t angry with him but her tone was clearly annoyed. He looked at Berry with a weak smile and his ears splayed back. “I’m sorry, Berry, I never meant for that to happen. It kind of killed the mood, didn’t it?” Berry’s expression changed, her creased eyebrows lifting and her face relaxing. She giggled half-heartedly. “Yeah, I guess it did.” “Well, I’m not much for sticking around when ponies are obviously watching everything I do and trying to eavesdrop. Are you ok with leaving?” Widget nodded his head in the direction of a gathering crowd of ponies who had been whispering amongst themselves and staring in their direction. Berry looked in the direction Widget had indicated and the crowd turned around, attempting to make it seem as if they were not just listening in just moments earlier. Berry sighed. “Yeah, let’s get out of here. We can talk at my place. Ponyville has a pretty active rumor-mill, and if it’s not something you want everypony in town to know about, then it’s probably best to talk there.” Widget nodded and placed some bits on the table. He picked up the envelope from earlier and left with Berry in tow. They made their way through Berry’s door, the ponies having dispersed as they left the market. Both Berry and Widget had been silent during their journey, however, as a precaution for any ponies who may have overheard on their way. Berry closed the door and shutters, turning to Widget, who had taken a seat on her couch. She strolled over and took a seat next to him, placing a comforting hoof on his shoulder. “Ok, now that we’re in the clear, mind telling me what happened back there?” Widget smiled as he looked back at Berry. I guess she knows how to read a situation better than I thought. “Well, that was Twinkleshine, my ex-marefriend. But you probably figured that much out on your own.” Berry nodded in confirmation. Her demeanor had changed drastically from the ever-playful Berry that Widget had known to an empathic Berry. A soft smile graced her lips as she patiently sat next to him. “Her father was, and apparently still is, a high-profile client of mine.” Which tells me that he either really doesn’t care about my former relationship to his daughter, or he finds my work to be of the caliber that it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s actually kind of flattering, but it would be nice if the past could stay in the past. “He would come in with commissions for me from time to time, and one day Twinkleshine came with him.” Widget trailed off for a moment, distracted by his memories that were attempting to flood his mind. “One thing led to another, and in the end Twinkleshine and I didn’t exactly end on good terms with each other. Her father stayed a customer of mine until I left. He was the only customer that I didn’t tell where I was due to the situation with his daughter, which apparently didn’t stop him in the least from tracking me down.” Widget laughed, a small grin spreading on his face. “He always was more fond of me than Twinkle.” Berry nodded. “So you two had a falling out?” “Yeah, you could say that,” Widget said. Berry cocked her head to the side, a raised eyebrow posing the unvoiced question to Widget. He sighed, giving into her query. “She left me for another stallion. One from a wealthier and more influential background. She didn’t even have the decency to tell me about it before-hoof. She just let me figure it out on my own.” Her eyes widened. “So then…” “Yes, she left me because I wasn’t ‘good enough’ for her,” Widget said, his golden yellow orbs deadset on Berry’s light purple eyes. “In Canterlot, ponies are in a constant competition for wealth, fame, influence, and power. And relationships are made and broken based on these things, or lack thereof.” “That’s horrible!” Berry’s jaw had dropped, a look of obvious disbelief on her face. Remembering Twinkleshine’s last comment, Berry lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “So, what about when she said the thing about ‘lasting more than a week’?” “I had hoped you’d forget about that one...” Widget face-hooved. Damn. Of all the things that Twinkleshine could have mentioned, I had really hoped Berry wouldn’t say anything about that. Lowering his hoof, he sighed and reluctantly looked back at Berry. “After Twinkle left me, I kind of... lost it. I just went from mare to mare indiscriminately. She had broken my heart, and my trust in ponies. I just ended up going from bed to bed.” Widget shrugged helplessly, apologizing to Berry with a regretful look in his eyes. Trying to convey his emotions through his gestures. “I’m sorry, Berry. I’ve been a bother to you, I’ll just go now.” Widget lifted himself to get off the couch but was stopped by a hoof that wrapped itself around his fore-leg, pulling him back into place. Confused, he turned back to Berry who had a small smile on her face. “Stay.” Dumbfounded, Widget relaxed back into the couch where he was. Staring at Berry, his mind was blank. Huh?! I don’t get it. I usually just leave at this point. Actually… I’ve never gotten to this point before. But leaving is what I’ve always done; what is this!? Berry just smiled at him. “Stay right here, I’ll go get us something to drink.” Berry got up and left the room, leaving Widget to sit there perplexed. What the heck just happened? Don’t mares hate the kind of stallion that runs around with mares aimlessly? Berry returned with two mugs of hot tea, passing one to Widget, who accepted it with open hooves. Berry took a sip of her tea, letting him get comfortable. After a few moments, Widget had finally relaxed and Berry caught his attention with a warm smile. “Widget, I’m not somepony who cares about those kinds of things. You left Canterlot to get away from all of that, didn’t you?” Widget coughed, wiping his muzzle with the back of his hoof. He gave Berry an incredulous look. “How much do you really know anyways?” Berry raised a hoof to her mouth to stifle a giggle. “Who knows?” She was teasing him. She’s a lot sharper than I originally gave her credit for... A loud chiming sounded, prompting Widget to check his watch in response. He sighed, noting that the watch indicated that it was time for him to get back to work. And I finally got comfort— gah! what am I thinking?! He smiled nervously at Berry as he berated himself. “I’m terribly sorry, Berry. I finally feel like I’ve gotten more comfortable with you, but I have to get back to my shop. I have work I need to get started on if I’m ever going to complete this order.” Widget motioned to the envelope that he had in his hoof. Berry laughed, the playfulness in her eyes resurfacing. “Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you too long. Be sure to stop by the bar later on, okay?” Widget nodded. “You bet.” Widget contemplated what had just occurred as he walked home. That was.. different. Her playfulness had returned, but there seemed to be a softer side hiding just behind that. A side that he had just had a brief glimpse of. Widget didn’t what to make of it, even though he felt a strange comforting warmth that coiled itself around inside of his body, like being wrapped up in a blanket on a cold day. Widget wanted to revel in the feeling, but trepidation pulled at his heart, throwing his emotions into a brawl for supremacy. Widget shook his head, walking through the door to his shop. It doesn’t matter, I came here to change my lifestyle. Not get sucked back into my old habits. Widget sighed as he eyed the envelope containing the commission from Twinkleshine’s father. Back to work.