Neoniie

"Indeed, it's good to observe a boost in your emotional state," Flux said. Pausing a moment, she reiterated, "I mean - good to know you're feeling better." Much more satified with the relative normality of her words, Flux continued to advise Colton. "As I said, a lookover for a professional is necessary, but I do suggest that you rest for a while before leaving. It is quite the trek to the Canterlot Medicinal Centre and the more energy you have, the better."

Looking around quickly, she remembered the spare bed that was stored down in the basement. Dashing off, Flux searched through the closetted area for the item, tossing aside several strange apparatuses. No, no, no, definately not, how on Equestria did that end up in there? "Aha!" Flux proclaimed in triumph.

She returned to the centre of the room, a relatively new looking mattress floating behind her. "You can rest here, I'll do some repair and cleaning around my laboratory." She motioned to the room as a whole as she spoke. Setting down the mattress and attaching a wooden frame to it, she set down the bed as close to Colton as she could. Then, she quietly trotted off to see what chemicals she could salvage by separating the mixtures.

Flux nodded as Colton described his physical state. She analyzed each possibiliy, deciding on possible spells to mend each injury. For once, Flux was thankful for her father's rather lengthy lectures on medicinal magic that he had given her as a foal. He had always hoped that she would become a doctor in her adulthood and therefore tried to prepare her as best as she could. Though that wasn't the path that Flux had chosen, she was still competent at such spells, deviating from her aptitude for other spells.

Calling forth her innate magic, Flux set to work carefully removing the bits of glass and knitting the lacerations they created back together. It was slow work, but Flux concentrated as hard as she possibly could - pushing her magic as far as she could - to ensure that each wound was healed correctly. She then cleared up the injuries to Colton's wings, noting that no important tendons or muscles necessary in flight had been damaged. "Well, you can still fly, though I suggest that you don't do anything too strenuous with them for a while."

She examined Colton's neck, finding that he was correct in his assumption. He had managed to brake some bone in his neck, most likely something that connected his spine to the neck bones, causing it to jut out behind him. Grimacing at the wound, she contemplated her next action. Flux had never done something like this before and a mistake could result in quite a problem for Colton in the future. "It seems you're right, there is something broken here. Luckily, it is not dislocated too much and you can still stand, meaning it isn't as serious as it could have been." She used her magic to light a candle near where the two stood to increase visability. "I can re-set it for now, which should allow you much less pain in your movement, though I suggest that we take you to a professional afterwards to ensure that it heals correctly."

Falling silent, the unicorn began her work. It was a very delicate operation; the slightest of errors could make the situation much worse. Flux moved the bone slowly towards it's original position, trying to be as gentle as possible. When she had the two fragments parallel with each other, she lined them up as well as she could and started to make a brace to hold them in place. Flux curved a piece of wood with her magic and formed it to the correct shape for a brace. With a few short spells, she attached the makeshift brace to Colton's injury, keeping the bone tighly in place against the rest of the skeleton. "Can you walk?" she asked, trying to see if the temporary brace had done the trick in the short term.

Flux followed the distraught pony, trying to find the correct words to assuage his sadness. She was rather disappointed at the potential loss of some of her rarer chemicals, but the unicorn felt a strange, unexplainable calm about the situation. Flux wondered whether this was an unusual phenomenon, but she was not accustomed to soul-searching and therefore has no idea how to analyse such a feeliing.

She noticed his groan of pain, confirming her suspicions that the accident had indeed caused some harm to the pegasus. However, she couldn't really gauge the damage from her current position. She stepped quietly toward him, sliding down the wall herself, observing the mess as she spoke.

"Colton, it's quite alright. I'm not upset with you at all. I was merely an accident, something that could have happened to anypony." Flux really didn't know what else to say and thus lapsed into silence. After a few more minutes, she continued. "Some of those lost chemicals were rather rare, but all material things are replaceable. I was much more concerned about you than any chemical." Flux remembered her mother saying something similar when she - as a young foal - had managed to knock over her best telescope. She wondered briefly if this was how friends felt when the other had accidentally harmed something of theirs.

Deciding now was not the best time for speculation, she addressed Colton once more. "Now, I should probably get a proper look at you. Glass can be quite a damaging material."

Flux turned at the sound of an immense crash. Assessing the scene rapidly, she watched in shock for a moment. The majority of the chemical vials had shattered, though a few remained intact. Colton had disappeared under a metaphorical mountain of shelf, glass, and chemicals. Shaking off her shock-induced paralysis, Flux summoned up her magical powers.

Acting quickly and on pure instinct, Flux separated the spilled chemicals as well as she could. A mixing of some of the more unstable concoctions could result in a much larger problem than the one that currently faced her. Summoning a few buckets, she poured the floating chemicals into them. To save some time, she decided that mixing a few would not be too problematic and created as many relatively safe mixtures as possible.

Then, she focused intently on the shelf, willing it to revert to an upright position. Closing her eyes in concentration, Flux heard a scraping sound, indicating the success of her spell. Moving the glass carefully from the areas around where Colton lay, she quickly trotted over to him. "Are you alright?" she questioned with concern, gingerly moving several more pieces of glass from Colton's form.

Flux nodded, slightly apprehensive about unveiling her laboratory. She pushed open the door slowly, but took the steps two at a time. Reaching the bottom before Colton, she quickly let Tesla down from his spot atop her head. With a small shake of his fur, the ferret ran off through his tunnel to the outside, no doubt going off in search of food of some kind. Turning back to Colton, Flux began to speak. "I do apologize at the state it's in at the moment. I pride myself on organization, but when I get absorbed in my work things get...hectic."

Then, Flux surveyed the room, trying to ensure that it wasn't going to explode if Colton took a look around it (though his explosive tendancies were left to his discretion). Papers and diagrams were pinned to the walls and scattered across a wooden desk in the corner, several depicting the anatomies of different creatures. Her experimental equipment lay atop a counter-top that was opposite the desk. She noticed that she had left several chemical flasks out and quickly levitated them to their correct shelves. The shelves were a lone sanctuary in the ocean of chaos, with bottled chemicals being labelled by properties and set in perfect lines. Flux also stowed away her glass implements, not wanting to break one accidentally. Her actual room was in a tiny corner, consisting of merely a bed and a calender.

"Don't mind me, just clearing some supplies. Feel free to take a look around, but be careful near the shelves," Flux cautioned, starting to stack her papers by subject and ordering those stacks by priority.

Here is my completed entry: Snowfall in the Jewel of the North. I wasn't quite able to fit everything I wanted to under the word count, hence the slightly rushed ending. However, I hope everypony enjoys it regardless.

"Maybe so, but Torvus usually takes everything in stride. He's pretty laidback, which makes him rather easy to get along with." Flux answered in a similarly quiet tone. "I'd be happy to take you on the tour, Colton. Just follow me." After a quick nod to Torvus, the unicorn trotted out of the bell tower and returned down the stairs. As she descended, Flux explained some of the tower's history. "This clock tower, formerly the Canterlot Clock Tower, was built by Torvus' great-great-great-great grandfather many years ago. In the 1500th Equestrian year, if I recall correctly. His family has maintained the tower ever since, even though the bustling city that Canterlot is now does not really require such a tower. It is more of a monument now; a testament to the history of Canterlot."

Flux finished her story, just as the two arrived on the main floor. "This is the foyer, not much to say about it, but it does lead to all the rooms in this place. If you're ever lost, I would suggest trying to make your way here." Taking the passage to her right, Flux led Colton into a spacious kitchen and dining room area. It wasn't very highly decorated, but a few candles were lit in the corner of the room. "The kitchen and dining room. Once again, it's all basically self-explanitory. There is a cold cellar down to the left there, but it isn't used much." Trotting back to the foyer, Flux took and downward left turn, going deeper into the tower.

There were three doors in the adjacent hall. One seemed to have a flight of stairs leading down again and the other two were on level with the rest of the hall. "These are the sleeping quarters. Torvus' is in the centre, the guest room - yours - is on the left, and the door down to my basement dwelling is to the right." Flux hesitated briefly, deciding to consult Colton for her next action. "Do you want to see my laboratory area? It's not usually something I'd show guests, but you'll be staying here a while..."

Torvus lowered his hammock with a simple pulley system, lowering himself toward the ground. Touching his hooves to the ground, the brown coloured old earth pony took Colton's hoof, shaking it vigorously. "Thank Celestia! I thought this wo' ne'er happen. Flux finally decided to make some friends, huh? Well, Mr. Cloudkicker, we'll be happy to have ya. We could always use an extra hoof around here and you may be a good influence on this here egghead." Torvus motioned toward Flux with his last statement.

Flux merely rolled her eyes. "Torvus, there's nothing wrong with being dedicated to one's work."

"Of course not! But havin' friends is important too," the earth pony responded. Looking between the two younger ponies, he continued. "I ain't gonna keep ya too much longer, I know ya young ponyfolk are probably busy with somethin' or other. Flux, ya should give 'im the tour!"

Flux nodded and trotted up the stairs two at a time. She could distinctly hear the sound of a grumbling earth pony from a hammock that was tied between one of the walls and a line of complex clock mechanics. She could just barely see a spattering of brown mane and tail from her position. "Confounded old gears! Half the time ya work jus' fine, but when ah need ya, you go all kaput on me!"

"Torvus! I have returned. Your work clothes have been repaired," Flux announced, levitating the garments that Colton had repaired out of her bag and up toward his position.

"Well, thank Celestia for tha'! I feel positively-woah! Now who's this colt with ya?" Torvus had turned in his hammock to face his apprentice, noticing Colton's presence halfway through his original statement. He scrutinized the blue-maned pegasus, looking him over twice before surmizing. "He ain't some kinda coltfriend, I suppose. Ya ain't the type fo' that, Flux."

Flux ignored Torvus' second statement, saying, "This is Colton. We met at The Perfect Fit, where I got those mended. He was the one who stitched them for me. He's a travelling pony who has taken an extended contract in Canterlot. He needed a place to stay and therefore, I suggested he stay with us." Flux stopped at that, deciding that Colton should probably say something as well.

"If I could hold onto it for a while, it would be greatly appreciated," Flux responded. Tucking away the journal for further study, Flux managed to stop just short of the looming sidewall of the clock tower. Colton, unfortunately, did not.

"Yes, indeed," Flux replied, briefly ensuring that Colton hadn't managed to hurt himself in any tangible way. The tower stretch upwards and seemed to touch the heavens. On such an angle, the clock tower looked much more impressive than it truly was. Several species of creeping vine and ivy snaked their way up the sides of the old building, a few tendrils managing to form tiny cracks in the wall. The tower itself was made of brick that had a slight yellow tinge to it, most likely from age rather than a stylistic choice. The sound of moving mechanical pieces could be heard from inside and a ding-dong sound rang out from the top.

Flux paused, counting the chimes of the great clock carefully. "3 PM," she determined, speaking softly, but still in a tone that made her words audible to Colton. "Torvus should be taking a break now, so you'll get to meet him. He's not the greatest at first impressions, so don't judge him all on that." Flux nudged open the wooden door, stepping back curteously to allow Colton room to enter.

I haven't got any Stalliongrad-based characters, but I'm still definately going to enter this!

When Colton mentioned this professor and produced his journal, Flux's mind flipped into analysis mode, automatically pulling out her notebook to write down as much of the reseacrh page as she could. Managing to avoid any obstacles in the road, Flux spoke as she copied down the inked words. "Ah yes, this reminds me of the Universal Magical theory. Many have theorized that pegasi's ability to walk on the clouds is a form of magic, generally evidenced by unicorn replication of the same ability. Some have even said that the earth pony affinity for growing and nature ventures into the territory of magic. Unicorns are just able to focus their magical powers and possibly have more magical development for that reason. Therefore, given the right tools and practice, it is possible that earth ponies and pegasi could use magic in a similar way."

Flux went silent again as she continued to write. Narrowly avoiding an inconveniently placed stick, Flux jotted down the last few words of the research paper. "Thank you Colton, this may be just the thing to help me in furthering my own research. That professor sounds like an interesting fellow, perhaps I may meet him one day."

"They do, though the advantage of unicorn magic is the ability to make nearly flawless repairs to any structural damage caused by time or other cirumstances. The outside may be the same, but many of the supporting beams and such have been replaced for safety reasons." Flux said, mentally double-checking quickly after to ensure the accuracy of her words.

"I do agree. It has been quite a novel day," Flux agreed, nodding her head slightly. She checked her surroundings briefly and took a dusted, unpaved road to their immediate left. "We're beginning to reach a point where you can see the very top of the tower," Flux informed Colton. The area around the was filled with a park-like environment, with shrubery placed uniformly in rows and a few small trees who retained the last vesitges of their leaves. Flux didn't usually take the time to admire the city either, as she was either rushing around performing errands or working in the clock tower, but she had the time today and throughly enjoyed an interested audience for her odd facts and figures.

"It's certainly not a problem. I'm merely assisting a pony in need," Flux said playfully. It was the white unicorn's first proper break in quite a while and she was enjoying the slight nip that had entered the air, much preferring cool to warm. The changing of the seasons was always a quick affair in Canterlot, but to make the transition less jarring, the ponies allowed the seasons time to show signs of their departure.

She noticed Colton watching the constructs of Canterlot as they towered over head. "You know, several of these buildings, the Castle in particular, have been standing since the banishment of Nightmare Moon. For example, this bakery here has been in buisness since Equestrian year 1009. And-" Flux stopped herself. "I'm rambling again, I doubt that the history of architecture is particularly interesting to other ponies."

I'm probably going to pop on and poke around, even though I'm not added to the list yet. (That's allowed, right? )

Wrong Note trotted calmly through the familiar streets of her adopted town of Hoofington. The sun was just beginning to peak out from behind the crystal layer of water, casting it's glow over the streets. She loved early morning for both their beauty and their silent calm. Taking a few minutes to stand still on the docks, Wrong Note let the light ocean breeze toss her mane about.

For several minutes, she merely stood, watching the sun rise. It was only when the port bell began to ring to announce the arrival of the morning shipments that Wrong Note continued on her way. The Hook, Line, and Sinker lay just around the corner.

It was a small shop, just the right size to make it cozy but not claustrophobic. It was made of simple wood, with varnish to protect it from the frequent rain that occurred in the waterside town. Wrong Note smiled at the familiar shape. Everything she had come to recognize was a far cry from her old, glamourous life, but she felt just as much privilege for her lifestyle.

The purple earth pony entered the shop slowly, a soft ding emanating from the bell near the door frame. Realizing that she was the first pony to arrive, Wrong Note quickly opened up the shop. Setting out the new items for sale and organizing the counter, the earth pony dashed around the store until she was certain that everything was in order. With a flick of the hoof, she changed the sign in the store window to display the word “OPEN” and quickly made her way behind the counter, awaiting her first customer of the day.

(I agree. A separate thread is definately the way to go.)

"That's quite generous of you, Cross-Stitch," Flux said, bowing her head in kind. "As Colton said, we're happy to help." Tesla dooked insistantly, looking much more lively as the day continued. "Tesla's more of a nocturnal creature, so he's probably getting ready to go out soon," Flux explained.

"Oh, there's nothing to repay, don't worry about it," Flux insisted. She gave a quick smile at Colton, "Well, we've managed to survive quite few such events, so I'm certain the clock tower can take one or two more incendiary complications. In fact, perhaps we should leave Cross-Stitch to his work and I can show you around the tower."

"Indeed, I definately do not mind the wait at all," Flux assured Cross-Stitch. "The more time something is worked on, the better it will be, as my father used to say." She dug around in her bag for a moment, trying to find her notebook. With a small shout of triumph, Flux produced her tattered book. Flicking through it quickly, eyes darting from page to page, searching for a specific note. Stopping suddenly, the unicorn tore out a half section of the page, leviating it over toward Cross-Stitch. "These are the latest measurements I have," Flux explained. "I believe they should be more or less the same. It's a bit of an odd habit, measuring myself at the end of each month. It must be leftover from my foalhood."

Shaking herself out of reminiscing, Flux turned to Sparks, admiring Cross-Stitch's work. "This is quite remarkable. I have never seen such fine craftmanship for such a tiny outfit. I have the utmost confidence that if you can produce such results for a small item such as this, a larger scale production will be breathtaking." Flux, who was not one for fashion, was surprised to find such words so readily available to her. My mother must be rubbing off on me since that recent visit, she thought.

"Fair enough, I suppose you do tend to exit explosively," Flux said, smiling again. Flux felt a strange anticipation, true excitement that for once was not directed towards a new breakthrough in her studies or experiments. It was an odd occurrance for the unicorn, but she decided that it was definately a good new experience.

"Well, they do say that life is full of surprises," Flux echoed Colton's sentiments. Turning her head from Colton, she glanced in the direction of the upstairs level of The Perfect Fit.

"I wonder if Cross-Stitch is almost finished with our Gala attire," she pondered. Flux didn't want to rush the tailor, but merely expressed her curiousity, as she was prone to do without thinking much about that possible interpretations. Catching this, she ammended her statement. "Not that I wish to leave or the like, I just tend to question things instinctively. I like to know what is occuring around me."

"Torvus? He won't mind. Half of the time he's up in the higher levels of the tower, ensuring that everything is ruuning correctly, so it isn't as though you would be bothersome to him. Besides, he'd probably appreciate it. I'd finally be making some friends and he'll figure that your presence may keep the number of explosions that I cause to a minimum," Flux said with a laugh.

"In short, we'd love to have you," Flux smiled, thinking of all the progress that had occured in one day. Torvus had always been insistant that she branch out and meet new ponies. While bringing home a guest may not have been quite what he expected, Flux determined that he would almost certainly react favourably to the presence of another pony.

"Well, I suppose there are very few options," Flux said, thinking about the possibilities as she paced back and forth. "The way I see it, there are only two options. The first is that you try one of Canterlot's hotel's and hope that they have an unbooked room. However, due to Canterlot's popularity with tourists almost constantly throughout the year, that may prove difficult."

"The other option is that you could stay at the clock tower with Torvus and I. There is a spare room for visitors; it's not particularly large or flashy, but it's yours if you want it."

Flux nodded, in agreement with his conclusion. "Yes, I was thinking along the same lines. Unfortunately, I haven't a clue who could have taken it, especially since nopony seemed to have seen anypony leaving my room and I hadn't seened anypony around when I investigated the tunnel. It is quite a mystery, one that I would like to solve."

Flux chuckled at Colton's joke. "I suppose they could, but the point of such a spell escapes me. Not many ponies study booklore, anyhow, and I've never encountered such a charm before in regular studies of magic."

"I agree, it would probably be a good idea to have a second pair of eyes on the scene. Somepony may spot or thinking of something that you alone could not. In that case, I will certainly give you that tour before you leave on your travels again."