> For the Love of...
>  by themouthofmush
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was an usual day in Ponyville; the skies were clear with a few clouds here and there, the birds were chirping, the fillies and colts were either in school or playing outside, stallions and mares were busy going about their regular day lives.
The only thing that was amiss throughout the town was the town’s clock tower. Unlike most days, it wasn’t running at all. None of the ponies in town really looked or paid much attention to it unless they really have to, so it wasn’t really noticed by any pony, except for maybe a few.
“Come on. Just a bit more.”
“That’s it. Keep going.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re stronger than me.”
“And you have a bigger reach.”
“Sure, sure.”
“Oh, stop chatting and lets finish this!”
“On the count of three. One…”
“…two…”
“…THREE!”
The two stallions pushed the last gear into place, finally finishing the “easy” job of theirs. With their task over, both of them collapsed onto the floor.
“Seriously, Turner,” the younger pony said while panting, “how was…that an easy…job…Oh Celestia, you’re lucky…I’m too tired to hurt you.”
The older pony, Time Turner, looked at his young assistant with a smirk. “Where’s that youthful energy and strength you talked about when we started?”
“It flew out the window…three ridiculously big gears ago.”
Turner placed a hoof over his mouth to stifle a laugh, but it failed.
“I find it funny that I’m older than you by quite a few years, yet you’re the one who’s tired.”
Giz glared at his mentor, “Not all of us have earth pony resilience, you know.”
Turner sighed. “Leave it to a Pegasus to complain about hard work.”
In a blink of an eye, Giz was inches away from Turner’s muzzle. “Since when is playing around in the dirt hard work?” he snarled.
Turner glared back. “Since as long as lounging on a cloud has been considered ‘working’.”
“Hey! If it wasn’t for us Pegasi ‘lounging on a cloud’,” Giz remarked, “you earth ponies wouldn’t have any reliable rain for your crops!”
Turner pressed his muzzle against Giz’s. “And if it wasn’t for our crops, you Pegasi would starve!”
“Take that back!”
“You first!”
Both stallions were locked in a heated gaze for what felt like hours, that was actually a few minutes. The tension in the room was so thick; it was as if a fog bank was settling in.
Giz slowed moved his right foreleg, causing Turner to flinch a little bit but keeping his whole body rooted to the spot. Giz raises his hoof above both of them, holds it there for a second, lowers it quickly, and then…runs it through his short, messy dark brown mane.
“Looks like you win this time Turner.”
“You nearly won yourself, my boy,” Turner replied with a smile.
“Anyways,” Giz said while looking at the mass of gears that made up most of the clock tower’s machinery. “Are we done yet?”
“Not just yet. All that’s left is to spin the last gear and that’s that.” Turner replied in a matter of fact tone.
Giz looked upon his mentor with a quizzical look. “Uh, Turner, last I checked, the largest gear weighs a whole lot. It isn’t going to be easy to move.”
A grin started to slowly crawl its way across Turner’s face. “Oh, we aren’t going to move it ourselves. It’s going to move soon enough.”
Giz looked from the machinery, to Turner, and back.
“Okay, I give up. How the buck are we go-“
CLICK CLACK VOOSH crankcrankcrankcrankcrank…
In a blink of an eye, the quiet room was filled with the clanks of the clock’s gears slowly moving and the mechanism coming to life that Giz was baffled by the instantaneous change. He looked among all the pieces to see any indication of how the machinery started up.
Feeling something on his shoulder, Giz turned his head and saw Turner’s hoof.
“Come on. Let’s tell the mayor that the job’s done,” he said sing-song.
“But...but…how-“
“Oh, that? I started it back up.”
Giz gave the elder stallion a wide-eyed expression. “You!? But…but how!?”
A goofy grin came upon Turner’s face as a small snicker escaped his lips. “Don’t try to over-think it, my boy. All I did was use this.”
Taking a step to the side, Turner revealed a small lever sticking out of the floor.
Letting out a groan, Giz smacked his forehead.
“Yeah…let’s…let’s just go already,” he said with a sigh.
“Now, now. There’s no reason to get your saddle in a twist Gear Sprocket,” Turner said as he neared the exit. “I know, why don’t I treat you to lunch at the restaurant not too far from here?”
After not getting a reply as quickly as he had hoped, Turner turned, no pun intended, around and saw Giz putting a few of his tools back into his saddlebags.
With the last of his tools away, Giz gave Turner a quick “Sure” on his way towards his mentor and the exit.
Turner smiled and clapped his hooves together. “Splendid! Let’s report to the mayor first. Then, we’ll go and eat. Hopefully Sparkler is working right now. It’s been a while since we’ve last talked and I’d like to catch up.”
“S-S-Spark-k-kler w-works th-ther-re?”
“I think so. Ditzy mentioned something about her sister getting a job as a waitress at a restaurant near town hall. Why? Is it a bad thing if she works there?”
“W-what!? N-no. It’s a good thing she works there. It seems like a good place. They’re lucky to have such an incredible mare working there.”
Turner looked at Giz with a raised eyebrow.
“I know she’s incredible, but I don’t see what that has to do wi-“
It was then that Turner noticed something was Giz’s appearance. There seemed to be a fain twinkle in his eyes since their most recent conversation, his cheeks seemed a little bit more red than their usual reddish-brown, and he seemed to be lost in some sort of pleasing trance, evident by his blank stare and goofy smile.
Turner was lost for a couple of seconds until he pieced all of Giz’s reactions together and letting out a chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” Giz asked.
“Oh, nothing nothing.” Turner said as he opened the exit door. “Come on Giz.”
“Uh, sure thing Turner.”
Right on his way out of the exit, Giz abruptly stopped halfway through.
“Turner…”
“Yes Giz?” Turner asked, tilting his head a bit.
“I just thought I should let you know…”
“Know what?” Turner asked while showing signs of both intrigue and worry.
Don’t tell me he’s going to say what I think he’ll say.
Giz let out a sigh. “The thing is,” he said before turning around and revealing a sheepish smile, “that I really didn’t eat breakfast this morning; so, I’m starving.” He then gave a nervous laugh while rubbing his mane.
Turner didn’t react at all for a few moments, causing Giz to get nervous.
I should have guessed he might react this way since he knows how much I eat when I’m starving.
Not being able to stand the silence any longer, Giz opened his mouth to apologize but Turner cut him off with a sigh of relief.
“Oh, is that all? I thought it would be something serious.”
“But you know how-“
“Yes yes. I know you’re worried about me spending too much, but it’s alright.”
“You sure?”
Turner placed his hoof on Giz’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. “Yes, since the amount spent on you will come out of your cut for this job.”
Giz opened his mouth to protest, but closed it soon after and sighed.
“Seems fair enough.”
Turner’s smile grew as he removed his hoof.
“Well, let’s get going. The sooner we report in, the sooner we get lunch.”
“And the sooner we get to see Amey!” Giz said a little too quickly as he galloped straight for the Mayor’s office.
Turner shook his head a little and looked at the young stallion.
“Is this what ponies look like when they’re in love? Or is it just him?”
Turner shrugged and raced off after his assistant, letting the door close by itself.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“I still can’t believe we got paid six hundred bits for one job.”
“Well, to be frank, it was a really hard job.”
“Who was it that said it would be an ‘easy job’ again?” Giz said with a goofy grin.
Turner sighed. “I told you already why the job changed. The last storm caused some of the gears to rust and it wouldn't have been able to handle to upcoming storm if we didn't repair it. We’re just lucky we found a few replacements parts and that we had a pony who knows how way around gears.”
Giz’ smile grew a little as he looked at Turner. “If you keep buttering me up like that, you just might end up having a new coltfriend.”
Turner stopped dead in his tracks, his face a light shade of red. “C-c-c-coltfriend? But I t-t-thought…”
Giz placed a hoof on Turner’s shoulder. “Relax Turner. I was just joking around a little. I’m not a colt cuddler.”
Turner let out a sigh of relief and looked at his apprentice. “Don’t kid like that okay. It scared me.”
Giz tilted his head to the side. “How come? I think some stallions might consider you good looking.”
Turner’s cheeks turned red as he looked at Giz, anger in his eyes. “Oi! What did I just say?!”
“Whoa, easy there Turner. I just did an observation, nothing else. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Turner seemed to calm down a little, but keep glaring daggers at the Pesagus.
“Besides, I’m worried for any stallion that might try to take you for his own.”
Turner’s glare grew more intense as he drew closer to Giz. “Oh, how come?”
Giz, feeling a bit scared thanks to glare, gulped and fidgeted in place. “W-w-well, they would have…would have do d-deal with-“
“LOOK OUT!”
Turner’s ears perked up. After realizing who the voice was, he took as big of a leap to the side as possible.
Giz, still fairly new to the town and its inhabitants, didn’t follow Turner’s gesture. Instead, he turned to face the direction the voice came from and got tackled hard by a grey blur.
As soon as the world stopped spinning around him and the slight headache he just received numbed down a bit, Giz noticed the floor was where the sky should be and vice versa.
	Okay, something’s up…poor choice of words.
Giz tried to stand up, but his hooves didn’t seem to make contact with anything. He looked down, or up in this case, and saw his forelegs were touching the air while his hind-legs touched a wall.
	So, I’m just upside down against a wall.
As if on cue, Turner stepped into Giz’ line of sight.
“Need some help getting up?” Turner asked, concern lacing his voice.
“Yeah,” Giz replied, holding his hoof out, “I’d appre-“
“I didn’t mean you Giz. I was asking the mare underneath you.”
“Underneath me?”
Giz looked back down at his hind-legs and saw what Turner was talking about. He didn’t notice it before, but there was a grey hoof barely cutting though his tail.
He rolled off to his side, making sure he was completely off of the mare.
“Are you alright?” Turner asked as he kneeled down besides the mare.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Are you sure nothing hurts?”
“I don’t feel anything, so I think I’m okay.”
“Because we can take you to the hospital if you aren’t alright.”
“But I said I’m okay…”
“We should take you to the hospital anyway, just to be safe.”
“Turner,” Giz said as he got up.
“They could see if anything is broken.”
“Turner,” Giz said louder.
“They could also take good care of you as well.”
“Turner!”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s get g-“
“TIMEY!”
Turner immediately stopped talking as he stood as still as a statue.
“Uh Ditzy, what did you do to Turner?”
Ditzy giggled a little. “Oh, nothing. He just gets embarrassed whenever I call him that.”
Giz smiled and chuckled a little.
Turner, seeming to finally have come back to his senses, turned on the younger stallion. “If you ever tell anypony…”
Giz waved his hooves defensively. “I promise I won’t tell anypony on purpose.”
Turner took a deep breath, calming himself down. “Alright then.”
He gave Giz a smile. “Let’s get going Giz. I’m sure Ditzy has to go back to her route-”
“Actually,” Ditzy said, cutting off Turner, “I’m on my lunch break.”
“Then it would be alright for you to join us for lunch,” Giz said before his mentor could reply. He turned to face Turner and gave him a small, mischievous smile. “That is if it’s alright with you Turner.”
“Well, I…uh…”
“Where were you two going anyway?”
“Oh, we were on our way to the café nearby-“
“You’re going to go see Sparkler?!” Ditzy asked, cutting off Giz with a big smile plastered across her face.
“Well…” Giz started while scratching his cheek, trying to cover the slight blush on his face.
“Oh, Sparkler works there?” Turner asked. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yep,” Ditzy said, her smile still beaming. “Today’s her first day.”
“Then we have no choice, but to go there then,” Turner stated while giving off a subtle sly smile.
“Yay!” Ditzy yelled, clapping her hooves together excitedly like a little filly, causing both stallions to smile.
“Why don’t you lead the way Ditzy?”
“You sure about that Turner?”
“Oh, hush Giz.”
“Okay then Timey,” Ditzy said, oblivious to Giz’ remark and Turner’s slow forming blush.
As the trio rounded the first corner, Giz took in the group’s surroundings.
“Hey Ditzy.”
“Yes Giz?”
“I’m not trying to be rude, but I’m curious about something,” Giz said, looking upon Ditzy. “How come you crashed into me?”
The question caused Ditzy to slow down and lowered her head. “I didn’t mean to do that,” she said.
Turner gave Giz a venomous glare, causing Giz to gulp and speed up a bit.
“I’m sure you didn’t mean to Ditzy,” he said, trying to get her to smile. “I’ve seen you fly. You’re better at it than I am.”
Ditzy shot her head up, nearly bumping into Giz’ snout, and looks at him with bewildered eyes, a soft pink on her cheeks.
“R-r-really?” she said, getting a little too close to Giz’ comfort.
“Well…yeah,” he said, scratching his cheek a little. “I’m a decent flyer, but I can’t last being in the air as long as other Pegasi.”
Ditzy smiled for a bit, but then looked back down, kicking the dirt with a hoof. “At least you don’t have eyes like mine.”
“I guess that’s true,” Giz started, earning a sniff from Ditzy and a glare from Turner. “Guess I’m lucky I don’t have as amazing eyes as yours Ditzy, right Turner?”
Hearing this, Ditzy almost fell over but Turner helped her maintain her balance.
“T-thank you Timey,” Ditzy said a little dazed with hints of red on her cheeks.
“Y-y-your we-welc-come,” Turner replied.
“Hey, you two lovebirds,” Giz said, causing both of his companions to blush, look at each other, then look away, “I’ll go on ahead and see if they have any free tables since it’s right over there.
Before either of the other two could respond, Giz took off into the sky, even though it wasn’t really necessary.
Those two are adorable together, he told himself. They are perfect for one another, he thought as a mischievous grin appeared on his face, and I might know how to help them out.
As soon as he landed outside of the café, he galloped inside and frantically looked around.
“Hello, can I help you?” came a friendly, feminine voice.
	Please be her. Please be her.
Giz turned around and saw a pale turquoise Pegasus mare with vanilla mane and tail.
“Oh, hello there Gear,” she said with a smile.
“Hiya Sassaflash.”
“What brings you here?” She giggled. “Besides eating lunch of course.”
“Well,” Giz said while running a hoof through his mane, “I was looking for a certain somepony. A mare to be exact.”
“Oh,” she said with a small grin. “Do I happen to know this mare?”
“I see,” Sassaflash said as she got close to Giz, the grin still on her face. “What might you need her help for?”
	She does work here and she is a nice mare. Guess I could try to have her help.
“You see, I’m trying to get a table for two.”
“’A table for two’ you say?” she said while getting a bit closer to him. “Are you going to be eating with somepony?”
“Oh, the table isn’t for me,” he said while waving a hoof dismissively. “It’s for a friend of mine and the mare he likes.”
Sassaflash giggled as she got closer, causing Giz to flush a little.
“W-w-what’s s-so fu-fun-n-nny?”
She giggled again and got closer, the distance between both of them a few inches.
“I never realized how cut you are,” she said, a twinkle in her eyes, as her own cheek started to turn pink, “making all of these excuses just to ask me out on a lunch date.”
“D-d-d-d-d-date?” Giz stuttered, his face as red as an apple.
Sassaflash got closer, putting her forehead against Giz’, and whispered, “Although I’m not hungry, there’s one thing I wouldn’t mind tasting.”
Giz took a step back, but soon realized he was against the wall with nowhere to go.
	What do I do? What do I do?! How could I have been cornered so easily by such a cute mare without…wait, cute? Did I…I just called her cute! Giz kicked himself inwardly. Now’s not the time to think about stuff like that. No matter how nice she smells, or how soft her feathers are, or how shiny her – STOP THAT! Focus, you idiot!
The warmth of her breath on his snout pulled him out of his trance.
“S-sassaf-fla-ash-sh-sh, p-ple-ease s-stop-“ Giz said, but it fell on deaf ears as she got closer, her lips getting closer to closer to his.
Giz gulped and closed his eyes.
Sassaflash closed her eyes.
Their lips made contact.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	So, this is what kissing is like, Giz thought. If so, why don’t I feel anything but cold?
Slowly opening one of his eyes, he saw why it was cold. In between both Sassaflash and Giz was a metal serving tray.
“Stop it Sass,” a familiar voice coming from behind the Pegasus mare said, angerly.
“Or what?” the mare replied. “You afraid I’m going to take your coltfriend from you?”
“He’s not my coltfriend,” the voice said a little squeakily. “He’s my friend and you are bothering him.”
“Oh, Sparkler. You’re always no fun,” Sassaflash said while pouting.
“S-Sparkler?”
“Yes, it’s me Gear,” she said, removing the tray and letting Giz see the lavender pink coated mare he came to see.
She coughed into her hoof and cast the stallion a glare. “good to see that you showed up to our date this time.”
“This time? What do yo-“ That was when Giz saw Sparkler mouthing ‘fake’.
He wasn’t sure what she meant at first, but it didn’t take long for him to catch on.
“I would have been here sooner, but a job took longer than it should have.”
“Let me guess, Turner?” she said as she got up in his face.
Giz gulped and slowly nodded.
Sparkler let out a disgruntled sigh. “This isn’t through, okay Gear.”
“Okay, what’s going on?” Sassaflash asked.
“Sass, could you be a dear and leave so I could put some sense into this stupid colt?”
Giz immediately fell onto the floor, crawling into a fetal ball, and mumbling something no other pony could understand.
“Uh…sure…I’m just…yeah…”
With that, Sassaflash left the two ponies alone.
After a couple of seconds, Sparkler looked around and found no pony was watching them.
“Coast is clear Gear. You can stop acting.”
“Who said I was acting?” he responded, earning a stifled laugh from the mare. “You seriously scared me there. I never knew you were such a good actor.”
“Thank you,” she said, taking a bow.
Giz laughed a little at the gesture.
Sparkler waved a hoof in the air, quieting Giz’ laughter. “You’re lucky I was here Gear,” she said in a serious tone. “Who knows what she would have done if I didn’t stop her.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault she misunderstood what I said.”
“What did you say to her anyway?”
“That I was looking for a mare who worked here, that I’d like to reserve a table for two on behalf of a friend…” Giz ran a hoof across his face. “She didn’t misunderstand. I mislead her.”
“How is it that you didn’t figure this out until now Gear?”
Giz sighed and looked down. “It’s like what I keep telling Turner. I’m no good with mares.”
“What do you mean?” Sparkler asked while trying to make eye contact. “I’m  a mare and you seem to be doing okay so far.”
“It’s because you’re different,” Giz said absentmindedly.
“Different? What do you mean ‘different’?”
Giz smacked himself inwardly. Smooth move genius. You almost let it slip.
Giz smiled sheepishly. “It’s because you’re an easy pony to talk to Amey. You’re exceptionally down to earth even though you’re amazingly funny and talented.”
Sparkler stood stock still, looking at the reddish-brown Pegasus in front of her.
	Why…why does he have to be such a gentlecolt? And cute for that matter…
“Uh, Amey, why are you all red?”
The question snapped her out and caused her to become a shade darker.
“It’s…it’s…it’s because I’ve been working too much today,” she stated, a little too fast.
Giz tilted his head. “But isn’t today your first day?”
“Well yes, but I’m trying to show the owner that it was the right choice in hiring me.”
Giz stared at sparkler for a while, making her feel as if he was looking into her soul. This lasted for a while before Giz let out a sigh and shook his head.
“I can understand trying to make a good impression to your new boss, but you can’t wear yourself out because of it.” He looked right into her eyes. “Try not to over work yourself,” he said with an earnest smile.
“If you keep buttering her up like that, you might end up with a marefriend,” came a voice from behind Sparkler.
Giz’ face turned a little red. “T-t-turner, st-stop that.”
Three sets of laughs was how Giz’ performance was rewarded.
“Though, it’s sweat how you care for my sister Gizmo,” Ditzy said between giggles.
“Ditzy!” Sparkler yelled, her cheeks red.
“Oh hush. We’re family. It’s my job to embarrass you in front of any pony.”
“She has a point there Sparkler,” Turner stated.
Sparkler looked Giz, her cheeks still red, hoping he could help, but all she saw was a flash of a smirk as he looked at his mentor.
“It’s good to see you agreeing with your marefriend Turner,” Giz said, causing the grey mare and brown earth pony to turn red. “It’s the hallmark of a good relationship you know.”
Turner opened his mouth to say something, but closed it right away.
Ditzy, on the other hoof, looked down at the floor, trying to conceal the redness of her face.
Sparkler looked at the three ponies, lost for words at what had just happened.
She was about to say something when a loud growl was heard.
The three other ponies’ eyes fell upon Giz as he chuckled a little.
“Oh, right. Almost forgot why we came here in the first place.” He turned to face Sparkler. “Could you get us a table? Preferably one outside so we could get some fresh air. It should also help you feel better Amey.”
Sparkler’s heart sped up a little while her face blushed.
Why does he have to be so sweat…trying to make sure I’m okay…especially after that white lie.
“Sure,” she said with a smile, her cheeks a little more pink than usual. “Right this way.”
Sparkler escorted the three ponies to one of the tables outside, picking up three menus with her magic along the way.
“Here you go,” she said as she seated them and handed them the menus. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Water please,” said Turner.
“I’d like some apple juice,” Ditzy said with a smile.
“Orange juice, if it’s still available,” said Giz.
“Certainly,” Sparkler responded, writing down the drink orders. “I’ll go get your drinks while you consider what to have.”
“Actually,” Turner said, stopping Sparkler from leaving the table,” Ditzy and me already know what to get.”
”How?” Giz asked her. “We just got the menu.”
“Ditzy knows the menu,” Turner answered.
“How do you know the menu Ditzy?” Giz asked her.
Ditzy tilted her head to the side. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Ditzy smiled sheepishly. “Oops. Guess it slipped me mind.” She looked at Giz, her eyes asking for forgiveness. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay Ditzy,” Giz said as he waved a hoof dismissively. “It happens to everpony ever now and then. So, don’t worry about it.”
Ditzy smiled, from ear to ear, upon hearing that, causing the rest to smile as well.
You have to give it to him, thought Turner. Even if he is clueless at times, he tends to know what to say and when to say it.
“Anyway,” Ditzy said, trying to get back on track, “I know a good amount of the menu since I helped Amethyst memorize it for this job.”
“That’s pretty kind of you Ditzy,” Giz said, smiling. “She’s lucky to have a sister like you.”
Sparkler smiled. “I keep telling her that.”
Ditzy blushed as she smiled.
“So, what would you be ordering?”
“I’d like an order of hay fries, a poppy sandwich, and some Prench bread,” said Turner.
“And I’d like the garden salad, with salt and vinegar, and some tomato soup,” said Ditzy.
“Would you like some bread for your soup?” Sparkler asked as she wrote down their orders.
“It’s alright Sparkler,” said Turner. “I’ll share some of mine with her.”
“Okay then. All that’s left is you Gear. What would yo…Gear, are you alright?”
The three other ponies looked at Giz, unsure of what to do.
His mouth was agape and drooling as he stared into the menu lovingly.
Ditzy and Sparkler tried their best to snap him out of whatever trance he was in, but nothing seemed to work.
Turner sighed and got up. “I think I can fix him.”
“What are you going to do?” Ditzy asked, not taking her sight off of Giz.
“Oh, just going to see if telling him something might work.”
“Wait, are you going to threaten him?” Sparkler asked, with concern and disdain in her voice.
“What? Oh, no. I’d never do that. Especially when there might be a quicker method.”
Turner approached Giz’ left ear and whispered, “If you don’t snap out of this, I’ll tell Sparkler how you-“
Giz’ head snapped as he turned and glared into Turner’s eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
The sudden reaction caught the two mares off-guard while Turner seemed unfazed, a smile on his face.
“What…what did you tell him?” Ditzy asked Turner.
“Oh, nothing too important,” Turner began. “Just told him that if he didn’t come to, he wouldn’t get any apple fritters.”
“…seriously? That’s what you told him?” Sparkler asked, a bit skeptically.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not the pony who devours them like a parasprite.”
“Hey!” Giz spoke up, his cheeks a reddish-brown-pink.
“Oh, lighten up Giz. It’s all in good fun.”
Giz mumbled under his breath while Turner had a short, light chuckle.
Sparkler walked up behind Giz, with no pony noticing, and looked at the menu selection he had opened.
“Well,” she started, causing Giz to jump a little and Ditzy and Turner to laugh, “if you love fritters, then you are in luck. Applejack’s cousin, Apple Fritter, gave the cook her recipe and process a while back. Trust me, they are amazing.”
“T-that’s good t-to hear,” Giz said, still a bit shaken up, “t-though you didn-n’t have to do th-that.”
“Oh, didn’t I?” Sparkler asked with a toothy grin.
“No, you didn’t,” replied the stallion, getting up in her face.
“You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Now go on and kiss her.”
“Ye…wait, what?!”
Both Sparkler and Giz turned red as soon as they realized how close they were to each other.
“You two are just adorable,” Ditzy said in between giggles.
“Sis!” Sparkler darted out, her cheeks getting redder.
Turner and Ditzy just chuckled at the two younger ponies expense.
“C-c-can I get thirty bits worth o-of apple f-frit-tters?” Giz asked, trying to move the conversation to something else.
“S-sure,” Sparkler said, writing down his order, “but it will take a while.”
“It’s alright,” said Turner. “We have time to waste by waiting.”
“But could I get my order as soon as possible?” Ditzy asked her sister. “I’m on my lunch break.”
“Okay,” Sparkler replied, noting what her sister said. “I’ll go give the cook your orders and will be back with your drinks.”
With that, Sparkler left, unaware that Giz was watching her leave.
Two seconds later, he was smacked on the back of his head, making his forehead smack against the table.
“What was that for?” Giz growled as he rubbed his forehead.
“Don’t stare at Sparkler like that,” Ditzy barked.
“I wasn’t star-“
Another smack in the back of his head.
“Turner!”
“Sorry, but you were staring at her Gear.” His voice had none of the usual giddiness in it.
“It-it’s not like I m-meant to do that-t.” Giz looked down at the table and started making small circles.
Ditzy sighed. “You really are hopeless at times Gizmo,” she looked at her side, “just like Turner told me.”
Giz sighed and laid his head on the table. “I know.”
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Turner said while placing a hoof on his apprentice’s shoulder.
Giz looked up and saw a goofy smile on Turner’s face, making him smile back.
“There we go.”
“Thanks,” Giz started as a smirk crossed his lips, “you old grandfather clock.”
“Why, thank you.” Turner placed a hoof on his own chest. “I’ll have you know those clocks are amazingly well made.”
Giz chuckled a little. “Good to see you missed the whole point.”
Ditzy busted out laughing, which soon got the two stallions to join in. All three of them laughed for a short while.
“Ah, that was a good laugh,” said Giz, wiping a tear from his eye.
“Yes it was,” Turner agreed, running a hoof through his mane.
“Yep,” Ditzy added, trying to get rid of the very last giggles in her throat.
“Looks like we finally found him,” came a voice from above.
“About time,” came another voice, this one a bit deeper and annoyed.
As the three ponies at the table looked up, two other ponies descended from the sky and landed a few hooves away.
“Hello there you three,” said the very light pink Pegasus mare. “How are y-“
“We don’t have time for that Blossomforth,” interrupted the dark grey Pegasus stallion.
“It’s a pleasure seeing you too Thunderlane,” Giz said as he watch the two new arrivals.
“You know why we are here,” Thunderlane stated.
“I can guess why, but I’m going to tell you – the both of you – that I’m not going.”
“But we need you!” Blossomforth said loudly.
“No, we don’t,” Thunderlane said with disdain as he glared at the younger Pegasus stallion. “She thinks we need him. I know we don’t.”
“Why would you say something like that?”
“Because it’s the truth,” Thunderlane said as he starting glaring daggers at Giz. “He isn’t a weather pony and he can barely fly long enough to either buck or move a few clouds. We don’t need him!” He slammed his hoof onto an empty table, driving his point home.
“Don’t talk about him like that!” Ditzy yelled, barely being held back from attacking the dark grey Pegasus by Turner.
“Oh, why should I…Derpy?” A smirk came across Thunderlane’s muzzle.
“Don’t you dare call her that!” Turner snarled, as the two mares tried desperately to keep him still.
A small argument erupted between Thunderlane, Turner, Ditzy, and Blossomforth that slowly started to escalate in volume.
The only thing that stopped them was a reddish-brown hoof slamming on the table.
“Good,” Giz said as soon as the voices of the other ponies died down. “Now that I have your attention, I can finally talk.”
He slowly got up and placed his saddlebags on his seat before turning to face the group.
“I appreciate you guys sticking up for me and one another, but that’s no reason to fight. Especially over something like that.”
The two mares and Turner seemed to ease up and relax a bit while Thunderlane kept looking at Giz, not budging an inch.
Giz smiled. “Now that things have settled a little, I have a favor to ask…well, more like three possibly.” He faced Turner. “Turner, could you see to it that my bags get dropped off at my place? I don’t want my tools falling off of me while I’m airborne.”
Turner smiled and gave an affirming nod.
“Oh, could you also pay for my order with my portion of our pay?” Giz asked with a sheepish smile. “I don’t want to bother the cook with cancelling it after all the work he might have put into the fritters so far.”
“I told you I would do that earlier, remember?” Turner said with a smile as he playfully punched his assistant in the hoof.
“Oh, right. Forgot about that for a second.”
He turned to face Ditzy. “Could you apologize to Sparkler for me Ditzy?”
“How come?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Giz sighed and shook his head. “Blossom and Lane came to get me but I refused to go. That’s when all of this happened.” He looked Ditzy in her eyes, which was a bit difficult. “I don’t want her to get in trouble for something I caused.”
Both mares cooed at Giz’ words, causing him to blush, while Turner gave him a smile and a pat on the back. Thunderlane, on the other hoof, just growled at him.
This is getting old, too fast, Thunderlane thought. Somepony has to bring him done a notch or two. A smirk formed at the edge of his lips. I think I might know –
“Hey Thunderlane,” Giz said, snapping the stallion out of his thoughts.
“What?” he responded, not really caring about anything Giz might say.
“Just letting you know that Blossom and I are ready to head out.”
“Fine, whatever.” Thunderlane took off, not caring if the other two followed or not.
“What’s up with him?” Giz asked Blossomforth.
She shrugged and looked at the fleeting image of Thunderlane. “It could just be stress. It is a tall order for the weather team, even if we knew about it ahead of time.”
“You have a point there,” a sigh escaped Giz’ lips as he shook his head slightly, “and me saying no at first probably didn’t help.”
“Hey,” Blossomforth said, as she gave him a reassuring smile, “let’s just get going already.”
A “I agree with that” and “Me too” came from behind Giz.
“Well,” Giz started as he flapped his wings, “guess we aren’t needed here. See ya Turner and Ditzy.”
With a mighty flap of his wings, Giz flew after Thunderlane, being shortly followed by Blossomforth.
Not long after, a lavender pink mare stepped out from the café with three drinks floating in her magic.
“Okay. So that’s one water, one apple juice, and one oran—where did Gear go?”

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Come on everypony! We have a deadline to keep! Ponyville needs this thunderstorm!”
A pair of magenta eyes looked at all of the Pegasi flying about until they stopped at two ponies.
“You two,” the eye’s owner said, pointing at the two with an azure hoof, causing them to float in the air and pay attention to the pony. “I want you two to make sure none of the clouds get near the Everfree Forest.”
The two Pegasi simply nodded and bolted towards their task.
The eyes gazed through the Pegasi again, hoping to find the ones they were looking for.
Where are they? They should have been here by now.
“Ma’am,” came a voice behind the mare.
She let out a groan. “What is it?”
“You asked me to report on the rain clouds. “
“Yeah, and?” she asked, the impatience clearly audible.
“We have more than enough rain clouds for the storm.”
“Good. Go help the others with the clouds.”
“Which clouds ma’am?”
“Any. Go!”
She could hear the ruffle of feathers and quick flapping of wings from behind her.
She groaned. Seriously, where are they?!
Her eyes scanned the clouds. We need them to help with this.
“Sorry we’re late.”
Most ponies don’t know this, and she’s thankful for that, but even as tough and confident as she is, Rainbow Dash does get startled from time to time.
Rainbow Dash soared a few hoofs further into the sky, flying right through a cloud, accidentally getting rid of it in the process.
After regaining her composure, she glared at the group of ponies responsible for her “incident,” all of whom were trying their best not to laugh.
“You’re late,” she said, clearly annoyed.
Thunderlane coughed into his hoof. “We would have been here sooner,” he said as he turned and glared at the reddish-brown Pegasus, “if some of us were better fliers.”
“Hey!” Giz said, clearly offended. “I already apologized to my actual boss, so get-“
“Wait, you said that?!”
Giz’ whole body started to tremble as Rainbow Dash stared him down.
“Y-y-yes, b-but I didn’t m-mean to do that.”
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh as she ran a hoof down her face. “You’re just like Fluttershy, you know? Always…”
Although he knew she was still talking, Giz spaced out after the mention of Fluttershy.
The pink butterball, something he thought described her well but would never tell anypony else, was one of the first ponies he met on his initial arrival to Ponyville, and he was happy he did. She was one of the sweetest, kindest ponies he has ever met and it made complete sense, at least to him, that she would become the bearer of the Element of Kindness. Although they haven’t really spent much time together outside of ‘critter activities,’ he really didn’t mind it at all, since they got along decently well.
As a couple of images of her started to appear on his mind, he couldn’t help but react the way he usually does – slightly quickened heart rate, mouth slightly agape with droll getting ready to flow, and a slight heat coming to his face.
He wasn’t going to lie, at least not to himself – he found her attractive. He first thought of her as cute when they first met because of the way she acted, but, as they started to spend more and more time together, he found her going from ‘cute’ to ‘pretty’ to ‘attractive.’
He wanted to do something, but there were just a few things stopping him dead in his tracks with his “relationship” to the butter yellow mare.
He wasn’t sure that she could handle something as big as relationship to a stallion, let alone a simple date, without passing out or running away scared and, Giz being a gentlecolt, he wouldn’t dare try anything unless he knew she would be capable to handle it.
He also could guess that a good amount of the town’s single stallion population probably felt the same way and would easily squash him if he even dared try anything.
He sighed and shook his head inwardly as he shifted his attention back onto Rainbow Dash.
“…need to grow some backbone, try to be assertive, or at least try to be less of a doormat.”
“It’s good to see what you think about your friend Dash. That’s really loyal of you,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
Rainbow zoomed and pinned the young stallion onto the cloud he was standing on.
“What did you say?” she asked, her voice laced with anger that was only matched by the intensity in her eyes.
“N-n-n-nothing m-m-m-ma’a-a-am-m,” Giz replied.
“Good. Thunderlane,” she said as she moved her head towards the stallion who was standing at attention, “go help the weather ponies responsible with the thunderclouds.” 
Thunderlane gave a nod and flew away from the small group, towards his task.
Giz, still unsure of what to do in his situation, tried to fidget his way free of Rainbow Dash, but, as soon as he started, she slammed a hoof near his head, stopping him completely.
“D-D-D-Dash, c-could you p-p-please let m-me g-g-g-go?”
“Sure,” she said with a smile, causing Giz to smile a bit, that was soon replaced with a smirk, causing Giz to gulp. “All you have to do first is just say how awesome I am.”
All of the nervousness that Giz was feeling before was completely gone thanks to her statement.
“Are you serious?” he asked her.
She applied a little more weight onto one of his legs.
“Okay okay.” Giz let out a sigh as he closed his eyes. “Rainbow Dash is the greatest flyer in all of Equestria. Not only is she amazingly fast, she is also incredibly agile, making her a natural stunt flyer. Any squad would be lucky to have her, making her their captain instantaneously.” 
He opened his eyes and sighed again. “Happy?”
“Yep.” The rainbow maned mare got off of the stallion and went back to hovering in the air. “Though you did forget about the Wonderbolts, but I’ll let it slide.”
Letting out a sigh of relieve, Giz sat on his rump. “That’s good…but who are the Wonderbolts?”
The Pegasus mare gave Giz a bewildered look. “Are you serious? You’re a Pegasus and you don’t know who the Wonderbolts are?”
Giz gulped and just looked at Rainbow Dash, unsure of how to react.
Rainbow’s impatience got the better of her as she zoomed right up to the young stallion, muzzle to muzzle.
“How can you not know about the Wonderbolts?!” she barked loudly, making Giz’ ears ring. “They are the greatest team in all of Equestria, for Celestia’s sake!”
Giz’ ears flattened as they hid underneath his mane while his body started to shake.
Rainbow was oblivious to how Giz was acting. She was about to say, more than likely yell, something when she felt something on her shoulder. She turned to look and saw a light pink hoof.
“Rainbow, please stop,” Blossomforth pleaded her.
“Why should I?” Rainbow growled.
“Because this argument isn’t going to help with the storm,” Blossom simply stated.
Rainbow sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Blossomforth smiled and removed her hoof.
Giz let out a breath of relief, but soon found himself, yet again, muzzle to muzzle with his boss.
“I don’t see why you’re relaxing right now, since you have two assignments.”
“You’re kidding right? Please tell me you’re kidding,” Giz pleaded.
“Nope, completely serious,” Rainbow replied.
“Oh, come on!” Giz barked, as he threw his hooves into the air intensely, hitting the cloud with his back, earning two stifled laughs from the mares.
“Don’t worry. They are easy,” Rainbow stated as she held out a hoof for Giz, who cautiously took it.
“Rainbow, I barely know you, yet I can say, without a doubt, that your definition of ‘easy’ is different than everypony else’s.”
Blossom giggled a little and Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“Would you rather I give you a ‘hard’ assignment?”
Giz gulped heavily and started to tremble a little. “I’ll take the easy ones please.”
“Good choice,” Rainbow said with a smirk. “Okay, assignment one has to deal with why you are here. I want you do buck any low flying clouds while the rest of us are preparing the storm.”
“That, actually sounds manageable. What’s assignment two?”
“Oh,” Rainbow said with a grin, “just you finally learning about the Wonderbolts. Simple stuff – who are the current members, what they do, how long they’ve been around.”
Giz opened his mouth to protest, but Rainbow cut him off with her hoof. “And before you ask, yes, I am serious. You should at least know a bit about them since you’re a Pegasus. I’m doing you a favor.”
Giz sighed and glanced over to Blossom, hoping she might know what to do, but all he got was a look that felt like ‘just do it.’
Giz returned his vision back onto Rainbow and simply nodded.
Rainbow smiled from ear to ear as she threw a hoof into the air.
Giz rolled his eyes at the sight of his boss’ action and moved towards the edge of the cloud. “Well, I’m guessing that everything has been settled, so I’m going to head out.”
Giz pulled his signature goggles over his eyes as he turned back to the two mares. “Also, if they are so great, you would think that they would have tried to get my uncle to join them.”
“Huh?” Rainbow asked with a slight tilt of her head. “Why would they contact your uncle?”
Giz beamed a little. “Oh, it’s because he’s a world famous flyer. He has a ton of newspaper clippings about his career as a stunt flyer. He even got invited to the Grand Galloping Gala multiple times and performed for Princess Celestia a few times as well.”
“If he’s so famous, why have you just brought him up now?”
Giz shrugged. “Just thought I should share since we were ‘talking’ about famous stunt flyers.”
“What’s his name?” Blossom asked, completely curious as to whom this pony was.
“I call him Uncle Catcher, but his whole name is Rain Catcher. He’s been retired for a while though.”
“Is that so?” Rainbow said, not believing what Giz was saying.
“It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not Rainbow. Just thought I should share. Anyway, I should probably go do my assignment, so bye you two.”
Giz walked off of the cloud, causing the two mares to see if he was alright. All they saw was weather ponies and clouds around.
“How does he do that?” Blossom asked, annoyed at how good Giz was at disappearing off of clouds.
“Hopefully, he’s doing his job now.”
Rainbow looked at the mare beside her. “Hey Blossom.”
“Yeah Rainbow?”
“How come you didn’t leave earlier?”
“It’s because you haven’t assigned me a job yet.”
Rainbow sighed. “Go help out with the clouds above Giz’ assignment.”
Blossom nodded and took off.
Rainbow looked at the surrounding weather ponies in silence. What he said, could it be true? Could his uncle really be Rain Catcher?
Rainbow shook her head. “No, there’s no way. He would be a better flyer if he was.”
The boom of lightning could be heard not too far from her, causing her to groan. “It’s too early to be letting those go about.”
She bolted over to where the sound came from.