Old mare tales

by Shenzy

Sticks and Stones

It was Monday morning, when Clockworks alarm clinked in a annoying “wri-wri-wri-wri” rapidly.

The young filly waved her hoof after it and threw it of the table, breaking the clock in the process. Of course she could had turned it off, but she did this almost on a daily basis, just to repair it in the evening, so she could break it once more in the morning - so it was up to her father to get out of bed.

“Wake up Clockwork, you get late for school” he yelled.

“Its to soon” she said and put the pillow onto her head.

The stallion came into her room and pulled a leaver next to her bed, but nothing happens. Usual the bed now would slant a little and the filly would drop out, he had built it him self, so it was impossible it was worn out that fast, so he tried a few more times without any effect when a wooden gear flew against his head.

“Just let me sleep” Clockwork frowned.

The stallion got on the side of the bed and lifted up the entire bed him self so she landed on the floor. “Nice try, but i'm not afraid to make my hooves dirty... and now get ready and go down, breakfast is ready” with that he lowered the bed and walked downstairs.

Despite Clockwork being a nice filly, her mood in the morning was quite “rusty” like her father used to put it.

When the filly quickly was done with brushing and making her mane ready, since she didn't mind to look a little more ruff. Her father also never had a flat mane, it was part of the job to look just a bit wild.

“Today I got a mixed salad, honey-bread and green tea” he presented as well “this” he added to place a small gear out of chocolate on the table, making the filly eyes grow wide as she carefully took it “thanks dad!”

Her mother used to make those once in a while, with a form he had build her. His chocolate mixture wasn't as good as her mothers, but still she loved them and would always save them up to share it with Herb.

“I guess this fixed your mood?” he asked and the filly nodded with a smile.

“Good” he looked onto a clock on the wall “because i will be out a little longer today – the job I told you about... you have to come back here after school your self”

“Okay dad” the filly agreed and ate her breakfast, but also packing some bread for school, to leave the house along side with her father. He would pull her every day with his work chariot up to school and back, if he managed to find some time.

This was also where she would met her friend herb.

“Hi herb, how was your morning?” the filly said with a smile.

The colt had quite a similar expression to her, before getting up “the usual” he shrugged.

She knew, that he probably had some fight with his mother again. When ever something was not quite “conform” she would flip out... so even the smallest rumor could make her nervous.

“Hey, cheer up... I got something special today with me...”

“A gear?” the colt asked curiously.

“Yes” she whispered back to him.

“Yeah, so cool... I like those...” he grinned, already forgetting his ruff morning “your dad is a better cook than mine” showing his tongue “did you ever eat spinach pudding? GROCE!”

The school bell now rang and the two got inside with the others, walking into the class room.

Their teacher Mrs. Wander-Hoof wasn't there yet, so the kids talked wild and stood between their desks and so did they.

Clockwork sat on her table, while Herb stood next to her “You know... we could ask your father to put some mint into it... I guess that would taste even better!”

“My dad doesn't change the recipe... its from my mom”

“Oh...” he almost had forgot, so he just stopped right here, feeling a little dumb about this comment.

“Its okay” Clockwork said “but you know, we could try to make our own... I know how it works... and you bring the mint, what you say?”

“Cool! Could we try it right after school?”

She thought about this a moment “My dad won't come home till evening... so sure.”

“Look what we got here, Stop-Work and Derp” a white filly said toward them.

“You two planning something stupid again I bet...” an orange one added “Your last -show and tell- was a nice disaster... what you got planned today?”

The two bragged and walked off laughing.

“I would like to...” Herb grits his teeth, but got hold back from his friend “they ain't worth it.”

Feather Dust and Topaz picked on them almost ever since. Their parents have been snobby pony's – her father a First Class athlete and her mother was leading a famous jewel boutique and other stores all over Equestria, so it was for them natural to have an ego bigger than Canterlot-Mountain, Clockwork assumed.

At first they just had picked on everypony in class, but after a small accident with a -show and tell- project, which had spilled oil over the filly's, they just picked on the two of them instead.

This was also the day on which they had met Trixie.

This town would be her last station Trixie figured... unable to think of a place she had not visited on her journey, which still was part of Equestria. In fact she even had left this a few times...

how many years it had been? She could not tell.. but it was way to long already. She felt tired from the travel. All few years, when her path got close to Ponyville she had visited her friends, but overall it was just a hoof full of visits and every time she got there, it was harder to leave and also return for that matter, seeing how everypony got older and older when ever she did visit them.

It was the sobbing of a young mare which tore her out of her daydreams, when she found a gray filly sitting on the side walk - crying at that, trying to wipe away tears of her ruby like eyes.

A deep blue colt stood next to her and yelled onto other filly's who were about to wander off “...and if you come back, I swear you taste my hoof!”.

Trixie didn't need magic to figure out the problem here, so she walked up to the two and parked her cart.

“Whats the matter?” the mare asked carefully.

Now his blue eyes gave her a angry glance “Not your problem!” he said and now put him self between her and Clockwork.

The mare sat down to show she would not dare to get any closer and put down her big magician hat, to slowly stick a hoof into it – when she pulled it out again, she hold two burning sparklers in her hoof, reaching it to him.

The filly noticed this and stopped crying for a moment, but still was sobbing and huffing.

“Here, you can have those” the mare offered.

Herb checked behind him “What you want for those?”

“How about some of your attention?” the show mare replied.

Herb wasn't sure what she meant by that, but grabbed the sparkling sticks from her to pass one towards Clockwork, who was staring at this little thing, like trying to figure out how it worked.

The mare got up again and got over to her cart, levitating a small table in front of them, as she began to perform some simpler tricks with chard's, solid rings which she somehow connected to one another and without the use of her magic – let water disappear in a cone made of paper.

Now the filly giggled a little, she had no idea how that was possible. She never had seen such a thing... all she knew at this point was machinery and facts.

Also the colt lose up his battle stance and was applauding towards the mare.

“You are great!” he said laughing, after she had used some powder to create a illusion of a timber-wolf, who was chased after by a giant bunny with fangs and whings.

“Who are you?” the filly asked, now finally smiling.

The mare got out a wand and tabbed it slowly three times onto her table and it vanished in a cloud, alongside the other things. The old blue mare put her hat a little back and got into pose.

“I'm... the great and apologetic Trixie!” the mare said proudly.

Now both foals pulled their eyebrows together.

“That makes no sense” Herb said “Why apologetic?” looking towards his friend.

“Wouldn't be... uhm... -powerful- or so be better?” the filly asked, putting her head on her side.

The mare smiled and slowly walked over two the young ones, to sit down in between them.

“Let me tell you a story...”

Today once again was show and tell. Like always Clockwork and Herb had worked together on a project, which they now presented.

“This... is our motorized Scooter” the gray filly said proudly “it took six works to build and you don't have to push it, to make it drive”

Now she gave a sign towards her friend Herb, who took a small bottle and filled it into the small tank.

“My friend Herb created a fuel for this... its based on plant-oil and a secret ingredient”.

Now they tried to start the machine and it came stuttering to life, when the exhaust blew out small green clouds, which smelled a little like mint.

Her teacher made a few notes on a check board and nodded approving.

“Did you put mint into the fuel?” the filly whispered.

“I thought it smells better than” he replied.

But just moments later the machine roared up and died away.

“Whats happened?” Herb asked confused, while Clockwork tried to start it one more time. The machine once again came stuttering to life, but chocked and suddenly a few small gears burst out of the engine and it died in a slow “Chhhhhhhtzzzzzzzzzz.....” this time the smoke didn't came out of the exhaust, but instead the engine it self, forming a small smoke trail to the ceiling.

Once again the teacher made a few notes, but this time shook her head.

“Nice work, Stop-Work and Derp!” the filly-sister's from before shouted and made everypony laugh.

“Silence!” her teacher said sharp and the class got quite again “you two... I really like your idea and … I also see you put a lot of work into it... but right now its not working, so I cant give you a good grade for it.”

“But we can fix it!” Clockwork said.

“Yeah, we can fix it, i'm sure!” Herb said “Come on, Wander-Hoof!” he begged.

The teacher gave him a angry glance “Its MRS. Wander-Hoof...”

“Right. Mrs.Wander-Hoof … sorry”

The yellow mare stroked through her long red mane, which was constantly hanging partial in her face. “Well. If you manage to present it next week – working... I will change your score... till than you to got a C.”

“Hey, that's not fair! Why they get a second chance and we didn't!?” Feather Dust nagged.

The old mare sighed “Because they worked hard on it...”

“We did too!” Topaz complained and hold up a small golden tree, with tiny apple rubies hanging on it.
“It sure is pretty, but I seen it in your parents show-window...” she scolded them.

“But we had to work really hard to get it!” Topaz did insist.

The other filly knocked on her table “Ye we had too!”

Mrs. Wander-Hoof put her hoof up her forehead “This is not the point of -Show and Tell- you have to create something your self... I told you this already” she sighed, to add “I think I need to have a talk with your parents about this”
“But...” the two snapped.

“No buts. Tomorrow morning I want to see your parents in here, or I will write a letter”.

“You two. Nice work... but make it a -A-...” and waved them off, so the next pair could present what they had done.

It was in the big pause when the two already tried to figure out what went possible wrong.

Herb hold and chemical formula in his hooves, while Clockwork was looking onto her construction.

“You think your mint blew it?” Clockwork asked carefully but received and snippy glance “no... it was just really little and should had no effect,” he said and pointed onto the formula “maybe it had to do with our secret ingredient?”

Clockwork thought about that and gave her plans another look. The engine had been so carefully tuned... and it had worked already, so why did it break down after a couple of uses?

It was so annoying, so she decided to get a clear head first before she tried again.

“Why don't we make make a break, we figure it out later...” she said and grabbed onto her bread-box.

“But I want know why its not working!” he said grumpy, before he noticed what she was waving back and forth in her hoof. It was the chocolate-gear. Now he quickly put away his paper and the two split it up.

He was almost drooling, he loved chocolate but his parents - especially his father, always tried to make him eat healthy. So getting his hooves on some, be it from her or Trixie, was always a small feast.

“Look who we got here, Mrs. Wander-Hoofes favorite students!”

Topaz nagged from afar, while she got closer with her sister right next to her.

“Yeah. I bet her father had built that stupid scooter... she can't do such a thing” Feather-Dust spit towards her.

“Shut up!” Herb said “You lazy pricks have no idea from anything...!”

“Let them talk” Clockwork said and tried to ignore them.

“Hey i'm talking to you, are you deaf?”

“More like deaf and blind, like her father” the other one laughed “Mother said, he always looks like a walking mess... I wonder if he knows what a mirror”

The gray filly already began to breath heavy. Her father was all she had and he was the greatest in her eyes.

“I warn you, get lost and leave her alone!” Herb said, but the two just blew air through their lips and picked more on her, since it was easy to make her cry.

“What you got there?” Topaz said and slapped her chocolate half out of her hoof and stepped onto it “Hoops, broken, like your invention!”

This was it - Herb jumped up from his seat and before Clockwork could react, he gave Topaz and slap to the face and turned towards Feather Dust, which was about to back off as fast she could.

Now his friend got a hold to him and pulled him back “Don't...they ain't worth it!”

The sisters ran of – Topaz crying at that... so he let go, being pleased with the result.

“But just this one time” he gave in.

The two sat down again and tried to calm down. It was just a matter of time till their teacher would show up, since the sisters sure would tell on them – without mentioning why he had done it.

A mark on cheek was easier to prove, than the words they just had said.

Herb noticed she still was quite upset “Here. You can have my half” he offered.

Her red eyes gave him a short look “We share.” she said and broke it carefully again in half, so now both of them had a fourth of the original.

They ate their bits and cheered up a little. Nopony could ruin the moment when the chocolate touched their tongues, but today it was a little shorter, due the lose of her half.

“To bad yours is crumbles” he said, starring on the dirty chocolate beneath “I could use some more...”

“Wh.. what did you say!?” she snapped.

“I like chocolate?” he shrugged.

“No, the part about crumbles! That's it... I figured out what we did wrong!”

“And what?” he asked excited.

“For once, you slapped another student” her teacher interrupted them, pointing on the sobbing Topaz, which of course dramatized the howl act, along with her sister.

The howl thing had brought him one week detention and now his parents had to come in as well tomorrow.

Since he had detention, the howl thing with mint-chocolate-gears wasn't a option anymore.

Her father didn't allow visitors this late for different reasons.

“I'm back” her father said, when he was about to get out of his work cloth. A blue trench-coat, which was quite dusty and had oil spills all over it and his emblem on the back – and leaver which was connected to a gear. This was also his cuttiemark.

He cleaned him self off and was about to make dinner, when he noticed she had done this already.

“Its Monday. Today its my duty to do this” he reminded her.

The filly wasn't quite in good mood “I know... I just had some time” she said and put down the plates on the table.

“Anything broken?” he asked, making her sigh.

“Herb as detention again...” she said, listless playing with some sugar-cube's, forming a gear on the table.

“That guy is quite often off-rail, isn't he?”

“It wasn't his fault... those stupid sister's started again... they picked on me and told mean stuff about you...”

“I didn't want to blame anypony, but maybe has other reasons to be so protective?”

The stallion observed her reaction for a while, but nothing much happened.

“Well... he has detention and you had some spare time... why didn't you do something with it?”
“We had planned to make gears...” she sobbed a little “but it would not be fun without him...”

The stallion said nothing at first. “How about we make some?”

His daughter shook her head “We wanted to make special ones... I mean... I mean other ones...” with that said she got up “i'm not so hungry today” and walked off to her room.

Herb also sat in room, since he was grounded for a week. His mother tried to make it two weeks at first and his father said he should not be punished at all, since he already had detention – so they met in the middle in name of peace.

It was later when his father brought in his dinner and put it on the table he was sitting on, in order to figure out what his friend hat seen, what he had missed, starring frustrated onto his paper.

After the howl ruckus in school, the two didn't had time to talk, since her teacher kept a close eye on all four of the squabblers.

“What you got there pal?” his father asked.

“My fuel formula...”

His father looked over the signs and numbers on the paper “Its supposed to burn slow, right?” on which his son nodded.

“What you need it for? We also got slow burning candle powder downstairs...”

“No, it has to be fluid... or it wont work with the scooter...” he said thoughtful.

The stallion sat down next to him “Scooter?” and waited for him to answer.

“We had build a self moving Scooter for -Show and Tell- but it didn't work... and than the others made fun of Clockwork...” he said trough his teeth and tried to clam down, taking long deep breaths “She said she had figured it out, but we hadn't time to talk yet...”

“Well, I guess you have to be patient then and wait for tomorrow... no reason to pull a frown”

He would like to tell him about the mint-gears, but he knew he would get it the wrong way.

“I guess...”

The pharmacist studied his formula now a little closer and thought about it.

“How you got the idea for this anyway?” now his son suddenly had small grin on his face “Did I say something funny?”

The colt looked towards the door, to check if it was closed “but you don't tell mom about it...”

“Its a secret between Patient and Doctor” he said holding up his hoof playful.

“Well... Trixie actually gave us the idea.”

“The story-mare? Isn't she some kind of magician?”

“Yes... but... she had told us about a mare out of her youth -Scootaloo- ...” and with that he began to retell the story good as he could, about how the filly had way to short wings and was made fun of, till she got a Scooter as present and used her wings in order to make it move – which also would make her famous one day, since it became her special talent.

“I see... really clever” his father said proudly and ruffled his mane “This is the kind of thinking I like. Such a idea could help a lot of pony's someday, you realize that?”

“I had not thought about this” his son admitted a little shy “you really think this could help?” as he tapped onto the paper.

“If not this, than the next idea for sure” his father cheered him up.

“I will check for your mother... maybe she had calmed down a little” giving him a wink.

Sometimes his father managed to talk down his mother, to lower the grounding by a day or two, so he still could visit Trixie on the weekend.

His father left the room, to find his wife next to the door.

“Did you listen again?” he said serious, with a slight shake of his head.

“Maybe a little” Ivy said.

Her husband just looked at her for a while and waited.

“Okay. We make it six days...” she gave in annoyed.

Her husband smiled and gave her a kiss “thank you, honey” and the two left the door, on which Herb had listened on the other side. The colt had to hold his hooves in front of his mouth, so he would not cheer to loud.

The rest of the week was luckily not to harsh for the two.

After the talks between their teacher and their parents, the sisters had to keep a low profile for a while in class and when ever they dropped a stupid comment in between lessons, Herb just had to raise his hoof and they would run away.

He could not help to grin every time he seen the mark on her cheek,

also Clockwork had told him what had went wrong and it turned out, she was perfectly right.

The special ingredient the two had used, had been some blue crystals. Those was able to hold big amounts of energy, similar to the Chrystal heart, which had inspired the idea for the fuel in the first place.

“You see. We used the right crystals” Clockwork had told him “but we had to huge pieces” he showed him, holding out her hooves.

On one hooves the crystals had the size of seeds, since they had crushed them down, so they could fit into the fuel tank.

On the other hoof the crystals just been almost dust, since Clockwork and done her best to make them smaller.

“So, that's it?” he said and starred on the powder “we been right all along!?” he said in disbelieve.

“Yes” she put away the crystals into small bags and performed a rubbing motion with her hooves “you see, the crystal got stuck between the gears and locked them or rubbed them off” with this she acted like her hooves had been stuck “so if we make it really thin, like oil...” once again she rubbed her hooves but faster than before.

The colt grabbed her tight “you are a genius!”

“Nah. I hadn't figured out without you” she said shyly.

The two stared at one another for a moment.

Her blond mane was quite pretty he thought to himself, as well her ruby eyes, but then he shook his head and let go of her.

“Something wrong?” she asked concerned.

“I'm fine... just a little excited” he blushed “when can we try it out?” he then added to change topic.

“I have to repair the scooter first... could take a few days”

“Hey, maybe we can show it to Trixie!?”

“Great idea... I think you are a genius your self...“then she paused “but wait, ain't you still grounded?”

“Ye, but my father talked mom down” he grinned “so I can make it on Sunday!”

The two rose up on their back feet and slammed her front hooves together.

Author's Note:

I think if i had a cutie mark, it should be something like a 'gear' ^^
I love mechanical stuff in all shapes and forms... doesn't matter if its a rusty tin opener or spaceships! Love em.
(or better yet, rusty spaceships! ^^ hrhrh eveonline - winmatar! yay)

---

Ohrrr Topaz and Feather-Dust .They come close to "Silver Spoon" and "Diamond Tiara", with a hint of "Rainbow's Bully's"i guess in each class is some kid which just can't shut up. I can remember mine... he was called XXX
(can't use his name here for privacy reasons)

Still, the moment i did see him, i hated his guts. At first no reason at all... just didn't like his face, but then i got to know him better and it turned out... i REALLY hated him A LOT MORE than i thought xD

Such an egomaniac and smart-ass (without being "smart")... well, lucky me- didn't see him in 10+years now *phew*and i like nothing more to make 20 or 30 out of it :)

ps. the name for "Ivy" came quiet late into the story. In fact i was 90% done when i slapped my hoof on my head and said: "i cant do that!" ... Ivy seemed quiet fitting^^Reminds me a little on "Poison Ivy" ... (if you were so unlucky to see "that" badman movie), but at least she doesn't try to kill somepony by kissing or so... or not? (better continue reading!)